What Could Be
by Nanenna
Summary: The story's not over, Fakir still needs to write a proper ending. But what kind of story will it be? A series of one shots exploring different possible endings Fakir could write. Mostly Fakhiru centric.
1. The Epilogue

I do not own Princess Tutu or any of the related characters, I am simply borrowing them for a few stories. Oh, and I'm not making any money off them either. This disclaimer applies to all following chapters.

* * *

**The Epilogue**

_Once upon a time a little duck fell in love with a handsome and brave Prince, but his eyes were always sad and he never smiled.. The little Duck wished with all her heart to see the Prince smile and a ghost happened to hear her wish and granted it, so the Duck became a girl and the girl became a Princess who worked to return the Prince's broken Heart to him. As she worked to restore the Prince's hear the Duck turned Princess made many friends: the rival Princess who was dark and sad, the wooden Puppet who sacrificed her life for the Prince's sake, the cowardly Knight who cast aside his sword in favor of a pen, the Knight's distant relative who would teach the Knight of his family's secret power with written words, and even the Prince who learned to smile as she mended his broken Heart piece by piece. But her Story was wrought with hardship as well, for a heart can feel pain just as easily as joy and can be tainted so much easier when not kept safely guarded by the owner. What's more the little Duck turned Princess learned that her destiny was unconnected to the Prince, that she could never confess to him for fear of vanishing. What no one knew was that the little Duck was so filled with hope that she changed the ending of the Story that was laid out for her, changing it from an ending of pain and suffering to one of freedom and peace. But even the little Duck's heart overflowing with hope wasn't enough to keep her from returning to being a simple, little duck; nevertheless she decided to live the life she had chosen. Live it well and live it to the fullest with those she loved._

And so as spring faded gently into a warm summer Fakir went out to Duckie's pond with his writing and fishing supplies. He set up his fishing pole and sat next to it on the old, wooden dock with pen and paper in hand, ready to write Her story. But what kind of story will he write? A sad one? A happy one? Or perhaps...

* * *

A/N: Instead of posting each of these stories on its own I'm putting them all here in one place, less clutter all around for everyone. Unless otherwise stated each chapter is unrelated and continues from the above little story. I have no schedule on when these will be updated, so please don't expect them regularly or often. I also have no ballet training at all and will try to avoid ballet terminology for your sakes and mine.

I am using the English spellings for the most part, not everyone knows that "fakia" is simply how the Japanese phonetics spell out the word "fakir." I do also have a few names I've chosen to spell differently for aesthetic reasons, the most notable is that I've chosen to change "Duck" to "Duckie" because it's a bit cuter and more girly.


	2. A New Beginning

_A New Beginning_

A young man of about 17 or 18 with dark hair and green eyes stepped from the locker room and headed for practice room, it was early morning and he liked to start stretching while he was still fresh. He opened the door to find that the barre already had an occupant. A slip of girl with strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes was just going from first position to second when she heard the door open and looked up. "Good morning, Fakir."

"Good morning, Duckie. Practicing for tonight's performance?" He stepped up to the barre next to her and started stretching. "I didn't realize Clara needed pointe slippers."

Duckie just stuck her tongue out at him and continued to practice. "I'm just practicing my pointe work. As Professor Cat once said: 'Neglect your practice one day and you will feel it, neglect if for three days and your fellow dancers will feel it, neglect if for a week and the audience will feel it.'" Fakir chuckled a little, the giant talking cat who had once been their teacher was more amusing as part of the past. "Just because I'm not dancing en pointe for the recital doesn't mean that I should stop practicing en pointe altogether." As if to prove her point, Duckie moved from the barre out into the center and began practicing her turns.

"I would have thought you'd be happier to get the lead roll, doesn't that make you the prima ballerina?"

"Clara doesn't do much dancing, it's more like acting, any of the drama students could have had the part. Especially since we're performing the version where Clara spends the whole second half just watching everyone else dance. I'd rather be one of the background dancers for the Waltz of the Flowers than just sitting around like that. Besides, you got the real lead role. You're playing the character the ballet is named after, oh Nutcracker Prince." Duckie made an overly fancy bow towards Fakir then straightened up.

"I just found out something that might cheer you up. There'll be a surprise for you during the recital."

"Oh! What is it?" Duckie bounced around excitedly, all the grace and posture from her years of ballet training forgotten in a moment of eager anticipation.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." Duckie just growled at his response and stormed out, leaving Fakir to practice alone.

* * *

The whole school was buzzing with expectation as everyone was preparing for the Christmas recital. The music department was the orchestra, the drama department helped make the costumes and build the set, the art department had helped the drama department, and the ballet department was, of course, performing the dance. Duckie was feeling the expectation more than anyone else, this was her first time playing such an important roll and as much as she loved her friends they weren't exactly helping her.

"Who would have that that simple little Duckie would get the leading role? And you practiced so hard but there's no way you can make it through the whole performance without messing up somehow. And we'll be right here to comfort you." Lillie was fawning over Duckie's hair while Pique was trying to help her into her costume.

"Isn't her dress pretty? You get to wear such pretty clothes as Clara. There's the party dress, the long nightgown, the Toyland gown... I'm so jealous!"

"But you both have such pretty dresses as guests at the party. And uhm... shouldn't you be getting ready?" Poor Duckie was trying to get out of Pique's grip and finish dressing, the curtain would be going up soon and she had to be ready to go right off the bat.

"Oh, we do have to go get dressed. Have fun failing!" With that cheery parting Duckie's two best friends ran off to change. Duckie straightened her costume and finished putting it on, she knew that her friends meant well but some of Lillie's happily pessimistic advice was really getting to her. _I don't even know why they chose me for Clara, how did I let Lillie even talk me into trying out? More like pushed me, but really... There are plenty of other girls in class who dance so much better than I do. All that bravado this morning with Fakir was so fake..._

"Duckie, what are you doing here? The curtain is going up and you're going to miss your cue if you don't go to the wings ring now!" One of the drama department girls who was helping behind the scenes grabbed Duckie's hand and dragged her to the stage. It seemed that Duckie didn't have any more time for self doubt.

* * *

Once she was actually out on the stage Duckie felt a lot better. Well, perhaps more detached, but at least she wasn't feeling so negative. The music was lovely and she got to dance on stage in a pretty dress with her friends, it was all pretty good.

Duckie, her friends, and one of the boys from the younger class who was playing Fritz got into place for the kindly godfather's entrance. It was a fun scene, the music lulled, the stage darkened a little, a spotlight came on, the godfather entered, and they ran over to swarm him. Only when he entered Duckie faltered and nearly ran away, she gasped and stared in wide eyed horror. "Drosselmeyer!"

"Yes, Drosselmeyer. That means we go." Lillie practically dragged Duckie, but she was so numb with shock that she didn't really resist.

_What's going on? He's here and time's still going and the story's over and and... What's going on?_ Fortunately, since Duckie had practiced so hard it was really easy to just follow the others while her thoughts whirled around at a startling rate. She swarmed the man who was supposed to be dead, _Where is Armadil- I mean Armond? He was supposed to play that part_, she marveled as he brought out the same toy castle from the dress rehearsal,_ At least had hadn't replaced the props_,she sat and watched as one of her classmates came out dressed as a doll and danced for them, and then her chance came. This was the part where Clara was going to ask her kindly godfather where her gift was, but since it was a silent ballet Duckie only had to look like that's what she was doing. So she shyly stepped up to Herr Drosselmeyer and whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"Now, now, Duckie, you don't want to ruin the performance." He winked and pulled out the nutcracker doll and handed it to Duckie. It was frustrating, but he was right. Duckie wasn't going to ruin everyone's hard work, but she was getting desperate to know what was really happening.

So Clara danced while cradling the doll like it was her most cherished possession, Fritz stole it and broke it, then she scooped it back up and ran to Drosselmeyer. "Just tell me, what's going on here?"

Drosselmeyer pulled out a handkerchief and tied it to the doll. "No time for that now, the show must go on," he winked and moved off stage as the rest of the guests left, the party was over. Clara and Fritz put away their new toys and were shooed off to bed. The scene was over and Duckie only had a few minutes to change for the next one. She ran back stage as several drama students, along with Pique, immediately pulled off her party dress while another set of drama students, along with Lillie, pulled the nightgown onto Duckie. Before she had time to react her hair and make up were touched up and she was pushed back towards the stage. The lights had dimmed, the stage was empty, and the music started.

Clara stepped hesitantly onto the stage, she snuck out into the center and creeped open the cabinet where the toys were put and pulled out the Nutcracker. She danced with it, then lay down near Christmas tree and closed her eyes like she feel asleep. The tree began growing, the drama students had worked very hard to make the very large plywood tree and it was actually unfolding in slats as it was being pulled up. Clara opened her eyes and looked up in awe, leaping away as the tree finished its transformation. The Mouse King jumped out and threatened her, Fakir in his Nutcracker costume jumped out to defend her, and Clara got to just stand back and watch. It was hard for Duckie not to snicker as she pulled off her slipper and threw it at the Mouse King, but somehow she managed. Fakir finished off the Mouse King and Duckie ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek, she always found this part a little embarrassing and couldn't help flushing as he put an arm around her. Not that she didn't like it, he was warm and felt very safe with his arm around her...

Duckie shook herself out of it, this was no time to fall into a reverie. The Nutcracker motioned to a carriage that had just been pushed onto the stage. It wasn't a real carriage, just a pretty front with a frame for support behind. The Nutcracker led Clara to the carriage and as they made to sit the curtain closed, end act one.

* * *

Before something else could happen Duckie had to talk to Fakir, "Was that the surprise?"

"What are you talking about?" Fakir looked at Duckie quizzically, nothing special had happened yet.

"You didn't see Drosselmeyer?"

Before Fakir could respond they were interrupted, "Come on, Duckie. We have to get you changed for act two!" The drama student who had helped her earlier grabbed her hand and tried to drag her off.

"No wait, I have to talk to Fakir about something. Intermission's fifteen minutes long, there'll be plenty of time to change in a minute or two. Please?" The girl simply nodded and left, off to make sure the others were ready. Fakir watched her leave, then turned back to Duckie.

"Yes, I saw. Though I must say that costume is much better than the one he was wearing during dress rehearsal. I wonder what caused the sudden change?"

Duckie was dumbfounded, _How could he not recognize Drosselmeyer? That wasn't just some student in a costume, it was the real deal! Hadn't Fakir seen the man before?_ _Unless... he really hadn't_. Duckie thought back to several years ago, when she had become a princess to save a prince who wouldn't choose her. No, she couldn't think of one time when Fakir had actually met the creepy ghost of the dead author who had been controlling their lives. "Fakir, you don't understand. That wasn't Armond, that was Drosselmeyer. The real one, the one who wrote _The Prince and the Raven_!"

Fakir's face paled and his expression changed to one of horror, "That can't be. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! No one looks anything like him. But I've never seen him in the real world without time stopping."

"Did he say anything?"

"No, not really. Just that I shouldn't ruin the play. I have no idea what's going on."

"I don't either. But if he's still here he's going to be backstage with the other danseurs. I'll go look there, you stay here and change. Keep your eyes open for anything strange, okay?" Duckie nodded and Fakir left for the boys' changing area. She went to the girls' changing area and slipped into her dress for the second act. Normally she would take a minute to admire the lovely dress, it was all white with gold embroidery in swoops and swirls along the bottom half of the skirt. But now was not the time, instead she quickly hurried out and began hunting around backstage. Maybe she would be lucky and find Drosselmeyer and he could tell her what he was up to, but more likely he had just gone back to that world he lived in, the one full of gears and puppet strings.

All too soon one of the stage hands found Duckie and rushed her back to the stage, act two was about to start.

* * *

The curtain rose, the audience lights dimmed, the stage lights came on, and the music swelled. The Nutcracker and Clara, both resplendent in their Toyland finery, stepped from the plywood carriage and up to a plywood arch where the King and Queen of Toyland waited to greet the Nutcracker Prince and the lovely girl who had helped him. Fakir leaned over and whispered: "Now this is the surprise."

Duckie looked at him and he nodded toward the King and Queen, she looked at him quizzically but quickly faced forward. As they stepped up to greet the King and Queen Duckie gasped with recognition, instead of her classmates it was Mytho and Rue who stood in the archway wearing the same costumes that her classmates were supposed to wear. They smiled and greeted her and Fakir just as if they had been at the rehearsal, Rue whispered to Duckie: "Now we can sit and chat while we watch everyone else dance. Let's catch up with each other." Duckie smiled and nodded then Toyland's King and Queen led the Nutcracker and Clara to the thrones set up for them near the back of the stage while the beginning chords for the Chocolate dance played from the orchestra.

Duckie was so excited to see her two old friends that she forgot about Drosselmeyer, they talked about old times and what had happened since they last saw each other. It wasn't until she heard the Waltz of the Flowers start that Duckie remembered why she had been so worried earlier. In hushed tones Duckie told them what had happened during the first act and they reacted quite worriedly. They discussed what it could mean, why he might be here. They couldn't come up with anything, aside from that it might be related to Mytho and Rue coming to visit. All too soon it was time for the ending scene, Mytho and Rue bid farewell to Fakir and Duckie. They would be going back to their fairytale after their part in the play. Duckie was sad to see them go but was very happy she got to see them again. The curtain went down for the final scene change as the dancers had their final costume change. Duckie had her dress ripped off and the nightgown thrown back on much like during the first costume change. She hurried on stage and lay down near the Christmas tree again, now back to its smaller, normal size. The curtain rose and Clara lifted her head in confusion, then stood up and looked around as if she had just woken from a dream. The lighting suggested that it was morning and Clara had spent the night down in the family room.

There was a knocking sound coming from somewhere just off stage, which was the cue for Drosselmeyer and Fakir to enter. The rest of Clara's family entered from the opposite side of the stage and they had the touching finale where Drosselmeyer introduced Clara to his nephew who had recently been released from a curse. The curtain fell on the sweet family scene the Nutcracker and Clara held hands and looked at each other shyly. While the rest of the cast came out for the final bow Duckie looked at Drosselmeyer and glared.

"Okay, the play's over. So what's going on?"

"Why don't we ask Fakir? He might know." Drosselmeyer grinned as he gave his cryptic answer.

Before they could talk further the curtain went back up and everyone bowed. The audience was giving a standing ovation; the students felt the performance had been a complete success. The curtain fell for the last time and everyone backstage began the process of cleaning up the set and putting everything away. Everyone except Fakir and Duckie, they had a dead man to interrogate.

"What do you mean I might know? I have no idea how or why you're here!"

"But you do, my boy. Tell me, how is it you had arranged for the Prince and his Princess to make an appearance?"

Duckie looked at Fakir expectantly; she had been a bit curious about it herself. "Well, they're a royal couple from a fairytale, they could come visit us by replacing the actors who were playing that same role."

"So because Mytho and Rue are fairytale royalty, they can come be fairytale royalty in a play?" Duckie asked quizzically.

"Precisely," Drosselmeyer mockingly applauded Duckie's cleverness. "And I didn't want to be left out of the fun, even I like to come visit once in a while. Fortunately there was a character with my same name whose role I could fill. Ah, but the ballet is over and the magic is fading. Perhaps we'll get to do this again sometime in something with a more tragic ending." Drosselmeyer laughed as he faded away, back to whatever world he had come from.

Duckie looked at Fakir and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least that's over with. I'm going to go change and help the others put everything away."

"Yeah, I'm going to go do the same. I'll see you later?"

"Yes!" With that Duckie smiled brightly at Fakir and then trotted off to the girls' portion of the backstage. It really had been a fun Christmas recital and was strangely appropriate for the last one she would perform as a student at the Gold Crown Academy of the Fine Arts. _I wonder what ballet we'll perform for the end of the year recital..._

* * *

Author notes! First: the title. It's part of some lyrics from Semisonic's _Closing Time_: every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. I can't remember why anymore, but I still like it. Maybe that this is the end of an era with them graduating shortly.

Second: What happened was I had a dream Christmas night that involved Princess Tutu characters. I couldn't really remember the dream but it made me want to write a story that took place several years after the end of the series; one where Ahiru has mysteriously been turned back into a girl without explanation and is just a look at the characters' day to day life. But I wanted it to involve a ballet performance and it took a little while to figure out which one. Nutcracker was the first to pop into my mind because I've seen it performed a couple times and am rather familiar with it, but I didn't want to at first because doing an AU fic with Tutu characters filling rolls in the story was the only AU fic I ever wanted to do. But I gave in and decided to write this as the Nutcracker because I wasn't so sure about the AU anymore and it was just too perfect.

Thirdly: So yes, I don't really like the way it was written, but I couldn't think of a better way. I really wasn't sure how to write the parts of the ballet that were just the ballet, I almost considered skipping them, but I suppose it'll do. I also wanted to get this out quickly, before my muse ran off and to give this out as a happy new year/belated merry Christmas gift. So yes... here you go.

Fourthly: When Ahiru or the other characters are in character performing I used the character's name, I hope that didn't confuse anyone.

Fifthly: Armond = Armadillo. It was something random that popped into my head and I though: why not? It made sense to me that the animal characters, except for Professor Cat, who was really a cat, would have names similar to the animal they had been transformed into. If I can think of any other similar names to the animals I'll probably use them as extras in the future.

Sixthly: Deleted scenes. There were some ideas and concepts I wanted to explore as well but felt they didn't really fit into the flow of the story. The big one was the idea that while Ahiru was practicing en pointe she danced like her usual self: not very graceful or skillfully. But every once in a while something of Tutu would come through and she would perform some turn perfectly and gracefully. Perhaps for a later fic. I'm also not sure how well I explained why Mytho, Rue, and Drosselmeyer could be in the play. But I really don't know how to better explain it.

Anyways, that's a lot of notes. I hope you enjoyed this one, look forward to more possible endings in future weeks.


	3. And Nothing Changed

_And Nothing Changed_

A young man with dark hair was lying in the grass under a tree, a neat stack of papers and an ink well were sitting nearby, and a well fed little yellow duck was sitting placidly on his chest. He was absentmindedly petting the duck while talking to her quietly, "I suppose a break would be good for me, but do you have to sit on my chest? You're so fat and heavy!"

The little duck only glared at him before closing her eyes again, she wasn't one to let him get under her skin. Not anymore, at least.

"I think I've gotten some good writing done so far though, don't you think Duckie?" The young man looked at her for a response before going back to staring at the sunlight filtering through the tree's leaves.

Duckie nodded sleepily as a response, she look quite proud of him.

"I've gotten a lot better, I could probably write you back into a girl."

At this the duck seemed quite upset and started making a big fuss; flapping wildly, quacking loudly, and giving the young man her most ducky glare.

"All right, all right, I understand. I wouldn't do that. I know there's too much risk of starting the story again." The young man held up his hands defensively and promised Duckie he wouldn't try to write a story about her until she settled down.

Eventually she sat back down and let him start petting her again, lulling into a doze again. She began to snore quietly as he continued to pet her.

"It wouldn't work anyways, I've already tried too many times to count. I suppose you're meant to just be a duck." The young man murmured, "But that's alright, as long as I can stay by your side I'm happy." He continued to pet her as she dozed, and stared up at the leaves of the tree swaying in the wind. It was a just another quiet day in his peaceful life and he was satisfied with that.

* * *

Big thanks to Wrightless Rose for your kind review.

So yeah, this one was really short. I don't know, I wanted to write a chapter about Fakir not turning Duckie back into a girl but I just couldn't write what I wanted. I don't know, I don't think he'd even try to write her into a girl because 1. that negates everything he said to her during the finale when she didn't want to give up her pendant and 2. there really is too much risk of setting things in motion all over again. But yeah, I finally got something written for this and can move onto one of the more fun chapters. I hope you can see the image in your head: a taller, more mature Fakir laying under a tree next to the lake with little, fat, old Duckie dozing on his chest. I liked the serene image and was finally the only one I could write without hating myself. Of course Duckie misses being a girl, dancing ballet, chatting with her friends, and fighting with Fakir so he'd at least try to give her her life back but in the end I think they'd have accepted her true form and gone on with life just like during the end song of the last episode. So bittersweet!


	4. Fairy Tale Ending

_Fairy Tale Ending_

Duckie was floating lazily in her lake when Fakir came walking up, he was a little later than usual today but she didn't mind because he was still coming. Though the fact that he didn't have any of his writing materials was strange, he always wrote by the lake. Duckie paddled closer to the dock as Fakir came to the edge and sat down, pulling a beautiful white and guilt envelope out of his pocket.

"We got a letter today, I thought you might like to read it with me." Duckie moved closer to look at the envelope as he showed it to her. 'To Sir Fakir and the Lady Duckie' was written in a neat, flowing script upon it. Duckie quacked excitedly, it looked like a letter from Mythos and Rue!

Fakir carefully opened the envelope and read the contents out loud while Duckie hopped up to read over his shoulder.

_Dear sir and madam, _

_You are cordially invited by his majesty, Prince Siegfried, and her highness, Princess Rue, to take luncheon at the royal palace on the day of summer solstice. A carriage will be sent for you to the Gold Crown Town Tower mid-morning. We eagerly await your arrival._

_Sincerely,_

_Mythos and Rue._

Duckie flapped her wings and quacked excitedly as Fakir finished reading the invitation, she was so excited about visiting her friends that she didn't know what to do with herself. Tomorrow was going to be a great day!

* * *

Fakir and Duckie were waiting right on time the next morning on the tower's balcony when a golden carriage drawn by a pair of pure white swans arrived. It looked very much like the one that had carried Mythos and Rue back to Mythos's fairy tale, Fakir suspected it was but Duckie was too busy quacking at the swans excitedly to pay much heed. The carriage ride had Duckie just as excited; the swans carried them higher and higher into the sky until they were above the clouds. A short distance away from where they emerged from under the clouds was a shining white castle with guilt roofing shimmering in the late morning sun floating on the clouds as if they were solid ground. It was a breathtaking sight that awed even Duckie into silence, if only momentarily.

The swans landed in a channel leading up to the entryway where the royal couple awaited their guests' arrival. Rue smiled and went over to take Duckie from Fakir for a hug, giving Mythos a chance to give Fakir a warm handshake. "I've missed you both, it's good to see you." Duckie hugged Rue back, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

Rue handed Duckie back to Fakir and took Mythos's arm so the royal couple could give their friends a short tour of the castle. They led them through several hallways, showing off drawing rooms, a large banquet hall, a dance gallery, and ending in the throne room. Mythos and Rue stepped up onto the dais their thrones were on while Fakir placed Duckie on the floor in front of it and stepped to the side. Duckie looked around with confusion in her large eyes but stayed where she had been placed.

"Duckie," Mythos stated in an authoritative voice, "For returning my heart to me and your tireless efforts to save Gold Crown Town I am rewarding you the title of Countess. Arise, Lady Duckie."

The little yellow duck stared up at her prince with tears in her eyes, she couldn't believe what he was doing for her. Before she had a chance to do anything else Duckie felt her whole body become enveloped in a warm glow. There was a blinding flash of light that blinded her for a moment, then everything returned to normal. Duckie looked up at Mythos with even more confusion in eyes, only he wasn't as high up anymore. And neither was the dais, and when she glanced over at him Fakir was now at about eye level with her instead of looming over her like a giant. Duckie looked down immediately and nearly fell over from the shock, instead of a round, feathered body with webbed feet attached she saw a girl's body wearing the very dress she had once imagined herself in while dancing with Mythos so very long ago. Not knowing what else to do Duckie "Qua'd" incredibly loudly then quickly covered her mouth; she wasn't going to turn back into a duck when she was finally a girl again.

"It worked!" Fakir said rather loudly from off to the side. "I wasn't sure if it would but look at you, Duckie... you're a girl again."

"I quacked but I'm still a girl," Duckie replied, still confused but a little more sure of herself.

"Of course not, dear. You're not wearing the last heart shard anymore." Rue stepped down from the dais to hug Duckie again. "With this spell you will always be a girl, even if you quack."

Duckie's eyes teared up as she hugged Rue back. "I can't believe you guys did this for me! It means so much!" And then the floodgates opened: everything Duckie had wanted to say but couldn't since she had returned came out in on long, babbled sentence.

Or it would have but Rue motioned for her to hush. "We have a picnic luncheon prepared out in the garden; you can talk all you like while we eat. Come along, it's this way." Rue took Duckie's hand and led her out into the perfectly manicured garden where a blanket was spread out on the immaculate grass with two large wicker baskets set neatly on top while Mythos and Fakir ambled after them.

* * *

The four friends talked out on the grass far longer than lunch lasted, until the sun had sunk rather low in the sky and was just starting to threaten of the dusk that was to follow. "Oh, look how late it's getting. I suppose we should be heading home soon," Duckie observed.

Rue, Mythos, and Fakir gave each other meaningful looks before turning back to Duckie, "You're right, let's head back inside," Rue said warmly. With that they all got up and cleaned up what was left of the lunch, everyone carrying a basket or bundle as Mythos led them to the kitchens. Once the remains were dropped off with a very friendly cook, who spent the entire conversation insisting that his majesty hadn't needed to do such menial labor and Mythos insisting that he hadn't minded, the royal couple led their friends back to the throne room where the others turned and looked upon Duckie with somber faces.

"Duckie," Mythos said in as gentle a voice as he could, "I hate to tell you this but if you leave the fairytale the spell will be undone."

"Oh... really?" Duckie was crestfallen; it was like having her fondest dream handed to her then being ripped cruelly away. "Well, it's not so bad I suppose. I can be a girl when we come visit and be a duck when we go home. It's better than not being a girl at all." Duckie tried to smile while a single tear rolled down her face.

"Oh Duckie, don't cry." Rue wiped the tear from Duckie's face and said in her most comforting voice, "You can stay with us; you'll have your own land and a lovely house in our kingdom. If you like you can stay at the castle, I have a room prepared just for you already while you get used to your new title and we can dance together every day."

"And I'll come visit every chance I get," Fakir said. "Every solstice and equinox and on all the holidays, even the anniversary of the story coming to an end. It'd be a lot better than going back to being a girl." His tone implied that he thought she was an idiot for being so gushy, but his eyes had a telltale moister at the corners.

Duckie shook her head violently, "No. That won't do! What about your promise, Fakir? You promised to stay by my side, how can you do that when we aren't even in the same world?"

"Don't be such a moron, would you really rather go back to being a duck than staying as a girl here with your friends?" Fakir argued back angrily.

"Yes, if being a girl was really that important to me I wouldn't have given up the last heart shard and you know it!" Duckie was all out yelling at this point, though it wasn't as effective because her voice was already starting to go hoarse from an entire afternoon of talking, not to mention her first time speaking in months.

Mythos and Rue left them to continue arguing like they always did before Mythos cleared his throat and stepped up onto the dais. "That's quite enough of that now. Fakir, come kneel before us."

Fakir gave a quick glance at Duckie, who only shrugged, before following Mythos's order and went to kneel before the royal couple. "Fakir," Mythos started in his most regal voice, "You were once a knight who gave his life to protect your liege, you have served me faithfully since finding me in the streets, and you were the one who wrote the end of the story that had kept us all in its thrall. For your loyal service I return the title of Knight from your previous life and all the lands and rights attached to it. Rise, Sir Fakir."

As Duckie watched a bright light enveloped Fakir for moment before fading away and revealing a pure white tunic with green embroidery along the edges and matching leggings. Fakir looked down at his new attire in mild confusion, then looked back up at Mythos in realization. Mythos and Rue were smiling down at him as they watched his reaction. "Now you don't have to leave either, or did you forget you were part of the story too?"

Duckie squealed in delight and ran over as Fakir stood up, "Oh please say you'll stay too! You know I won't stay otherwise and I'm sure Charon will be happy for you! Why, he can be the one to come visit us on holidays if he wants to. And we can all practice dancing together and I'm sure it'll be wonderful!" Duckie continued to gush on for a bit longer while Fakir just looked back at Mythos and Rue.

"Well... I... thank you. Thank you both, you two were scheming this ever since we started making plans for Duckie, weren't you?" Before they could give a proper response Duckie was pulling Fakir into the middle of the long throne room.

"Come on, let's do a pas de deux! Just like back at the academy." Fakir rolled his eyes and let her pull him into the open area.

"You're probably so out of practice that you'll fall over just trying to do a pirouette." Duckie glared at him angrily but Fakir simply guided her into a starting position and began dancing with her. After watching for a moment Rue asked Mythos to dance with her as well, he simply nodded in response and the two walked gracefully to the middle of the room. And the four of them danced happily ever after.

* * *

It feels so... rushed. I mean the story's pace, I spent a goodly while typing this so the writing itself should hopefully not feel rushed. I just... I suppose I wanted to jam a lot in and I wasn't sure how. I dunno, I'm pleased enough to post it and I enjoyed finally getting this story out of my head but I'm not quite satisfied. Anyways, few notes to follow.

Just a LOL moment: I didn't realize until the final read through that in the invitation I had given Fakir and Duckie the proper pronouns for the Titles I ended up giving them even though I meant those as a generic "Sir and Lady" and did a lot of research to try and find proper Titles for Mythos to bestow on them. Well, it was always planned for Fakir to become the knight again, but I did a lot of research for Duckie. Ah well... I suppose now it just looks like foreshadowing. XP

I had no idea what to call that tower you never see until the last episode. Really now, they never call it anything, I'm not even sure if it's at the center of the town or not (though they usually are in fiction). I had imagined Duckie having a conversation with the swans pulling the carriage but since most swans are in fairy tales are mute (it's a breed) and I suspect real swans don't sound like they're from fairy tales (I suppose they squak) I could either translate what they were saying, which goes against why I don't translate for Duckie the rest of the time, or cut it out altogether. And yes, the castle was very stereotypical. Love it or don't read.

The outfit I pictured for Duckie is a specific one from either the first or second episode, she imagines herself dancing with Mythos and we see a still image (painting maybe) of Duckie in the middle of a pas de deux with Mythos while wearing a white tutu with matching white armlet ruffles and her hair up in a simple bun. Later she thinks to herself that Mythos does look better with Rue and we see the same still image as before but with Rue in Ahiru's place. I really liked that outfit and wanted her in it again.

And hooray with punny last lines! In case you didn't figure it out: it's a play on "And they lived happily ever after."


	5. The Sacrifice

A big thanks to LunaSphere, you've been an inspiration and a motivator! And while I'm putting a note up here I want to remind everyone that I don't own the license to Princess Tutu, okay?

* * *

_The Sacrifice_

When Charon first came to Autor because Fakir had disappeared Autor hadn't been very worried, the young author was probably out communing with the Tree or studying in the library as he often did. But when Charon told him Fakir hadn't come home for the last two nights Autor began to worry. They searched through the whole town, from the field full of rocks to the school to the Lake of Sorrow outside the town's gates, and Fakir was no where to be found.

The last place they went to was the duck pond, or Duckie's pond, as they liked to call it. To be honest they had passed near it a few times but hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary aside from a lack of Duckie swimming around on the surface and had decided to search elsewhere. They still saw no sign of Duckie on the placid waters, but Charon did find something that made him call out to Autor worriedly. Sitting on the dock as if the boy had just left were Fakir's belongings: his fishing pole, clothes, and writing supplies were all gathered about in a tight group while his quill had been blown away and was floating merrily on the surface of the pond, just visible in the waning evening light.

"We lucked out, all his papers are still attached to his writing board." Autor picked up the previously mentioned writing board which did indeed have a great deal of paper attached to it.

"What does it say? Does it say where he went without any of his clothes?" Charon hovered worriedly over the boy's shoulder, hoping the things Fakir had written would give them some hint or other.

Autor flipped through the paper before answering. He really wanted to make sure they didn't miss anything by hastily reading what was on top but what he found made him glad he hadn't. "There's a great deal in here about sacrifice and paying a price..." Autor flipped through more pages, scanning them quickly while Charon waited nervously for him to finish. "It seems like he was worried about what the price would be to make Duckie a girl again." Charon nodded, he knew about her true role while they were still under the story's spell and had noticed how attached his adoptive son had become to her right near the end.

"But does any of it say what that sacrifice was?" Charon started to become truly worried now; Fakir may have tried to pay the price on his own.

"There is a story here; I think it was the last thing he wrote. But it's getting pretty dark, let's head inside where we can read it better." They gathered all of Fakir's belongings from the lonely dock before returning to Charon's home for tea and a long read.

* * *

_Once upon a Duck had taken on the guise of a human girl to protect the she had fallen in love with while the Knight that had sworn to protect the Prince fought against the Duck, thinking she was a threat. But this is not that story._

_Once upon a time the very same Duck gave up her human guise to save the very same Prince while the very same Knight did all that he could to protect the Duck, but this is not that story either._

_Once upon a time a Knight had fallen in love with a Duck who was once a girl, but with all his power as a knight he could not be with her. And so they spent their days near each other as he had once promised, she floating placidly on her little pond and he sitting placidly on the grass, both simply content to be near each other. But soon the Knight was not content simply to be forever near the one he loved and never to be with her, so he consulted all the old books and tomes he could find in the hopes of finding a way to be with the Duck. He found that the price he had to pay was very high, but not too high a price to pay in order to spend the rest of his life at her side. So the Knight gave up his humanity and disappeared in a flash of light, as the Duck had once done herself to save the Prince they both cared so deeply for, becoming a duck himself to spend the rest of their days together. The end._

* * *

"That's it? It's rather short." Autor simply chose to ignore Charon's comment to re-read a few key points and flip through the pages to further study Fakir's notes.

Charon sat back in his chair and sipped his tea, "I would have liked a little warning first, at least let me know he was going to up and vanish."

"He was probably worried you would try to stop him," Autor replied absently. When Charon's words sank in he looked up with a start. "You're fine with Fakir turning himself into a duck?"

Charon waved his cup of tea at Autor, "I've always encouraged Fakir to follow his own path, to find his own happiness... if he thinks he can find it with that sweet girl as a duck then I suppose I should be happy for him. I just hope they stay close, they'd be safe as long as they stayed near the town."

Autor smiled, "Somehow I think Fakir and Duckie can take care of themselves, even as ducks."

And they did.

* * *

Author's note: So this was the ending that made the most sense to me, there would be risks involved in turning Duckie back into a girl and I really think she'd be somewhat against it. Afterall, they dedicated a good deal of attention to Fakir convincing her it's okay to be a duck and then he goes and turns her back into a girl? It feels a little hypocritical.

Anyways, first inspired by LunaSphere's story This Pendent Heart, then re-inspired by her story Drabble for two Ducks, go read them!


	6. Not Quite Human

_Not Quite Human_

"All right class, it's time to go to the pool. Everyone go get changed into your swim suits." Ms. Goat dismissed the class to go change for their fitness class, it was finally warm enough to use the school's pool and it was well known that swimming was a great strength building exercise. Shortly all the students were changed and lined up by the pool where Ms. Goat was giving them instructions on what their swim exercises would be.

"I don't like these school swimsuits. They never fit me right." Duckie tugged on her swimsuit's strap as she said that, fiddling with how it fit her.

"Are you sure you can swim?" Fakir asked her, concerned about how she'd fare in the deep end.

"For the last time: yes, I can swim. Ducks are great swimmers, you know." Duckie responded, frustration leaking into her voice. "So will you please stop asking?"

Fakir just looked away and muttered, "Ducks don't swim the same way humans do."

"Now, everyone into the pool!" Ms. Goat clapped her hands to get everyone's attention; the first day of swimming was always like this so it was a struggle to keep her students in line and on task.

"Here I go!" Duckie yelled as she jumped into the pool, her legs thrown out in front of her at an odd angle as she butt-flopped into the deep end. For nearly a whole second it looked like Duckie'd be okay when she bobbed right up to the surface like a buoy, but then she tried to actually swim and immediately realized that she had been completely wrong. In a panic she flailed around and cried for help, kicking her feet furiously in an attempt to stay afloat.

Without hesitation Fakir dove into the water and grabbed Duckie, quickly dragging her to the edge of the pool where Ms. Goat and the other students pulled them both out and formed a circle around Duckie and Fakir while the poor girl coughed up pool water. "Are you both alright?" Ms. Goat asked anxiously while Fakir glared at Duckie.

"I thought you said you could swim," Fakir shot at Duckie accusingly.

"I can! I'm just... still getting used to being a girl again!" Duckie shot back angrily. They glared at each other until Ms. Goat interrupted.

"If you're both well enough to argue you can walk to the infirmary and have the nurse check you over." Ms. Goat crossed her arms, near misses like that did not please her. Fakir and Duckie simply nodded as they both got to their feet and turned towards the main building. "And Duckie, you're going to stay after school today and learn how to swim properly, I don't know how you got the idea to jump into the deep end like that when you obviously can't swim but I won't have it happen again."

Duckie flushed bright red and said in a squeaky voice, "Yes ma'am." Not more after school punishments! It felt like Duckie's luck would never change.

* * *

Ah another "takes place some unknown time after the end and Duckie's a girl for no reason just so we can look at her life" fic. I don't know where this idea came from but it was too funny to pass up! And I know that we see Duckie swim as a girl twice in the series so it's a little against canon but who cares when it's such a funny image? Ah... humans don't swim like ducks indeed, we'd sure look weird if we did, sitting on our butts kicking our legs underwater with our arms tucked up against our body. But I'm starting to think that this would make a better comic.


	7. Not as They Seem

_Things are not Always What They Seem_

It took Fakir nearly a year to realize that something was not quite right, and he cursed himself for it many times. A whole year, what a waste of time that could have been put to better use! But we're getting ahead of the story here.

It all started as an off handed comment Fakir happened to overhear as he was walking home from the market. A pair of men were discussing fishing when one mentioned something that caught Fakir's: "-wn at the duck pond, but it got away just as I almost had him."

"Duck pond? You mean the fishing hole?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's another name for it. Come to think of it the only duck I've ever seen on it is this one little yellow one that's someone's pet. Anyways, he must've been..." Fakir stopped listening then, he didn't care about some fisher's near catch. He quickened his pace homeward, where he knew a little yellow duck with large, blue eyes would be waiting for him.

Duckie was happy to see him when he returned home heavy laden with bags of groceries and some clothing. She danced down the walkway and mimed a greeting to him, but rather than give her his small smile and say "Hello," back as he usually did he just stared at her intently with a look of deep concentration. Duckie quieted down and looked back up at him with a cross between confusion and worry clear in her eyes. Eventually Fakir looked away and walked into the house... he couldn't believe it had taken him nearly a year to realize.

Everything he did for the rest of the day just reminded him of his obliviousness to the world around him. Going to the pond to write reminded him that he had never noticed that there were no ducks at the duck pond, walking back home through town he saw Professor Cat and was reminded how he had noted a while ago that the feline seemed to have no recollection of ever being a teacher, and at home he was followed around by Duckie herself, happily quacking away while miming about her day. So the next day the green-eyed boy went to the library to do some research.

At the library Fakir read through _The Prince and the Raven_ again, scouring it for details that might give him some clue about who or what Duckie may have used to be. It was very vague, of course, only mentioning Princess Tutu briefly before she vanished in a flash of light. There was no mention of Tutu being a duck or a girl or even of existing at all before her brief appearance. But as he read over it again he realized something else, it wasn't the same as the story the town had lived through: there were several differences. The version of the story he had was a previous edition; the latest edition, the one that had gone through some revisions, was the one that the machine had been writing at the top of the clock tower. Fakir quickly put away the book neatly in its proper place in the library before bolting for the door like his life depended on it. Autor just sighed and shook his head as he straightened up his paper work.

At home Fakir dug the huge copy that Drosselmeyer had written with his own blood out from its hiding place. It was huge, a massive amount of paper bound together in a simple manner. Fakir gently placed it on his desk and began leafing through it, searching for clues about Duckie. Thus the little duck found him later when she went searching for him, wondering why he hadn't come to the pond that day. When she saw him sitting at his desk reading The Book she stopped and watched him for a while. Wondering why he was reading it again, worried about what it might mean, but trusting him to do what he must, she quietly waddled back out to the front where Charon was fixing them a lunch. Together they had a comfortable silence, keeping each other company while they let Fakir study in peace. But Fakir didn't find the answers he wanted, Duckie was just a duck who had wished to dance with the Prince when Drosselmeyer first discovered her. The fact that a duck could have such a wish seemed silly to him now, but when he had first read it he had thought it was all the magic that had soaked into the town. Perhaps Drosselmeyer had thought the same thing, maybe she was a girl from a different story that had been turned into a duck before Drosselmeyer had died.

To the library again, this time to skim through every story Drosselmeyer had ever written in the hopes of seeing any hints about Princess Tutu or girls turned into ducks. "Fakir, we've looked through every copy and version of Drosselmeyer's stories that can be found, and even a couple that can't be. What in the world are you looking for?" Autor was cranky by now, it had taken over a week to do all this research and Fakir had stubbornly refused to tell him why.

Fakir sighed in resignation, he may as well admit it. "I don't think Duckie's a duck." It sounded so ludicrous to say now. That Duck wasn't a duck, it sounded like he was saying that two wasn't a number.

"What?" Autor was lost, he had seen the duck herself, she was definitely a duck.

"It's just that... Duckie isn't a normal duck. I thought that maybe she was a girl before Drosselmeyer brought her into the story, maybe he had turned a girl into a duck just so he could have one, I don't know. Maybe it's just leftover magic or maybe even something I'm doing without realizing it." Fakir halfheartedly closed the book he had been staring at without being able to read for the last half hour. As he started to stack the books to be put away Autor was staring at him intently.

"So you think that Duckie may have been a character from a different story before she was pulled into _The Prince and the Raven_?"

"That's what I thought, but there weren't any ducks at all in the other stories Drosselmeyer wrote, it even seems a little silly to talk about now."

Autor stopped Fakir from stacking the books. "Drosselmeyer wasn't the only one who has ever written life into a story." Fakir's eyes widened with the realization, Duckie wasn't a character from one of Drosselmeyer's stories, she was a character from a different story altogether.

* * *

This time it took over a month and a half, the two boys methodically going through every single piece of fiction in library and hunting down any others they could find. They finally found it hidden away in the basement where books being repaired, reference texts and long forgotten tomes lay moldering. It was a thin book, bound in rough leather and parchment with decorative letters that contained illustrations of the story at the beginning of each chapter. Somewhere near the end was a short story that didn't seem to have a proper ending. But now that they had their clue, perhaps even proof that Duckie was more than just a duck Fakir finally decided to tell her what had been going on. She had been furious with him when he finally told her, nipping at him angrily and quacking loudly with a stern look on her face. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" she seemed to be saying.

Fakir looked sheepish, "I didn't want to get your hopes up if I was wrong. For all I know the reason you don't act like a normal duck could have been the way I wrote the ending. But we found this story and I think it's your story, do you want to hear it?" Duckie looked at him sternly, she was still angry but she mimed for him to read to her.

As Fakir picked up the old manuscript and as he began reading to her he felt magic flowing through those few pages of the story and knew that it was Duckie's story.

_Once upon a time there was a King and a Queen who were blessed with many fine sons and many lovely daughters who all became distinguished knights and accomplished ladies. The King and Queen were very proud of all their children and often boasted of them to all the visiting nobles, extolling their children's many abilities. How this son was such a superior archer that he could shoot the wings off a fly from fifty paces, how this daughter had such a lovely singing voice that she could charm the birds from the trees, how this son was so adept at swordplay that he was unmatched, how this daughter's needlework was the envy of every maiden in all their kingdom. It had gotten to the point that the King and Queen had even offended the Fae that lived in their kingdom, though they didn't know it. The Youngest Princess, a young maiden still yet a child, the King and Queen loved most. Though she was awkward and yet unaccomplished, the King and Queen loved her all the more, for the girl was sweet and pure of heart._

_One day as the Youngest Princess sat in a small garden behind the palace braiding chains of daisies a wicked Fairy appeared before her. "Your parents have offended us greatly by boasting of your brothers and sisters," the Fairy stated. The young Princess looked up at the Fairy in awe and fear. "I did not know that," the young princess said sadly, "and I'm sorry my parents offended you. If there were anything I could do I would make up for their offense."_

"_How kind of you to offer," the Fairy said with a wicked grin, "for as the most beloved of your parents you will pay the price for their boasting." With that the Fairy put a curse on the young Princess, turning her into a duck just as the Queen entered the garden to search for her daughter. The Fairy laughed as the Queen got down on her knees and begged for her daughter to be returned to her, then vanished from their sight. The King and Queen mourned over their daughter's fate, to be cursed to live as a lowly duck for the rest of their days. They had a pond dug in the Princess's favorite garden and ordered their servants to care for and protect the Princess for the rest of her days._

There the story ended, without even a "the end" to finish it. Fakir looked up from the pages to Duckie who no longer had anger written over her face. "Well, does it sound familiar?" Duckie didn't respond to Fakir's question, she simply sat and thought deeply on the story she had just heard. Fakir decided to let her sit and think, placing the book near her to read over herself if she wanted to and leaving her to ponder in peace. Autor was waiting for Fakir at their dinner table with Charon, both holding a mug of warm tea.

"How'd she take it?" Charon asked with concern.

"I'm not sure, I think she's still taking it in." Fakir responded as he sat down next to them at the table and Charon handed him a mug of tea.

"It's just as well, we need to start planning on how to break the curse she's under." Autor stated matter of factly.

While the men sat around and discussed writing techniques and fairy tale convention Ducky sat in Fakir's room with a story that seemed strangely familiar sitting before her. It tickled the back of her brain, like the memory of a long forgotten dream, or a dream of a long forgotten memory. Had she ever been a princess? A real one and not just a girl made into a temporary princess with twisted magic? Hadn't she always been a duck? As Duckie pondered this more she realized that she didn't remember ever having parents at all, duck or otherwise. She couldn't remember ever seeing any other ducks at all either, or having ever left the city walls though she saw other birds do it all the time, or even how old she was. She had never thought about it before, but her memories seemed to all blur together into one fuzzy haze. Maybe, just maybe Fakir was right and she was the princess from the story he had found. She felt hope rise in her chest as she eagerly looked down to read the passage again.

But even reading the story herself didn't trigger any memories of it actually happening, maybe... maybe Fakir was wrong and she wasn't the princess. Maybe Duckie's memories were vague and fuzzy because she had been a normal duck until Drosselmeyer had found her and decided to use her. Maybe this would all end in heartache and shattered dreams.

Duckie shook her head vigorously, she couldn't let herself become depressed! She had saved Mytho and Rue, she was the source of hope that had led the entire town out of darkness. She couldn't let herself become full of doubt now. She stiffened her neck with determination and read the story over again, memorizing the words as she did so. But it was the illustration of the fanciful "O" at the beginning of "Once" that caught her attention. Hiding there in the twisting curves and lines that came out of the "O" was a wicked fairy dressed in dark colors, an orange-haired young girl dressed in white, and a little yellow duck with big, blue eyes. She traced the image of the young maiden with a wing feather, it looked so like her as a girl. Maybe, just maybe, it would be worth it to let her hopes soar. With new resolve Duckie hopped up and waddled down to where the others were with determination. They would figure this out together.

* * *

"Do you have everything packed?" Charon asked, checking the straps on Fakir's pack as he settled the weight across his shoulders.

"Yes, I double checked it against the list we wrote to make sure." Fakir motioned to a list sitting on the dining table with neat check marks next to each item. Duckie sat quietly on the table next to the list watching as the two men finished up preparations. It had been a few days since The Big Discovery, as Duckie liked to think of it, had happened. After several failed attempts to break the curse themselves that ended in Fakir giving Duckie a chaste kiss on the bill while he was blushing so red he looked like he was about to explode, the two boys had decided that the best course of action would be to find the fairy that had laid the curse on Duckie.

There was a knock on the door followed by Autor opening it and peering inside. "Are we ready to go?" He asked while leaning inside, careful not to overbalance with a travel pack similar to Fakir's on his back.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Fakir replied while strapping his sword to his waist. Even if he was a failure as a knight during _The Prince and the Raven_ he could still fight if he had to and he wasn't going to be caught unawares. As Fakir reached for Duckie Charon caught his arm and looked at him intensely before pulling the boy into a hug.

"The three of you be careful out there, make sure you all come back safely," Charon didn't try to hide the tears in his eyes or his voice.

"We'll come back safely, I promise," Fakir responded, returning the hug. Duckie quacked her agreement from the table, Charon just smiled and released Fakir. With that the dark haired boy scooped Duckie up into the crook of his arm and walked out of the house, turning back to wave at Charon one last time before shutting the door.

"I still don't know why I have to come along," Autor muttered as they walked through the town gates leading to the Lake of Despair. "You know I can't fight or fish or do any of that outdoorsy stuff."

"No one knows as much about fairy tales as you do and that knowledge will come in handy when we find this fairy." Fakir replied calmly, Duckie quacked forcefully in agreement, they weren't going to let their bespectacled friend put himself down like that.

* * *

After two and a half weeks of wandering deeper and deeper into the woods outside of Gold Crown Town the group had found a lead. The forest became both brighter and darker at the same time, the light filtering through the trees growing dimmer as the foliage grew thicker while the light being reflected off the plant life intensified and made everything seem to glow and the colors to look brighter. Some of the animals that crossed their path were able to speak and one or two even gave them some helpful directions towards the fairy's home. It was a stroke of luck that the first one they found, a beautiful castle that seemed spun from glass floating on a pond with a clearing around it, was the very fairy who had cursed Duckie. With a deep breath they stepped onto the bridge arching over the water to the castle's entrance, it was so fragile looking that Fakir wasn't sure it would hold their weight but Autor walked across confidently, "It's made of crystal and magic, Fakir, it's sturdier than anything you'll find in Gold Crown."

Fakir just mumbled something incoherent under is breath and followed Autor to the other side. Once they reached the castle they were greeted by radiant people with translucent wings sprouting from their backs and ushered in as honored guests. They were guided to a finely furnished sitting room where they were offered refreshments while the mistress of the castle was informed of their arrival, one of the servants even offered Duckie a plate small fish and bread crumbs while the boys were offered tea and cucumber sandwiches. They all refused of course, Autor warning them not to eat fairy foods, and simply enjoyed the luxury of not sitting on the ground while they waited for their considerate hostess.

It wasn't long before the fairy herself appeared, a beautiful woman with long blond hair, eyes as blue as the summer sky, and a perfect complexion with a pair of large, gossamer wings on her back wearing a flowing gown the color of pearls floated serenely through the open doors. "Ah guests," her voice tinkled like bells being blown in a gentle wind. "It's been quite a while since any humans have come into my forest, let alone adventurers with... oh my. I see you brought a sweet little duck with you." The fairy gracefully sat across from her guests and began sipping from a tea cup, "But where are my manners? My name is Hexa and you have traveled far to meet me. Pray, tell me your names and the story of how you came to be here."

Autor and Fakir traded looks before Fakir began speaking. "My name is Fakir, this is my distant relative Autor, and this is Duckie. I believe you've met her before."

"Oh, we've done more than meet if that spell I put on her is anything to go by. Though I do believe she had a different name when we first met. What was it... Bella? Sarah? Guinevere? Some generic princess name her parents came up with for their seventh daughter."

Fakir gripped the arm of the couch he was sitting on tightly while Duckie sat in shock on his lap. "Then you can probably guess why we traveled so far to meet you," He ground out, trying to keep himself from yelling at this arrogant woman.

"I presume you want me to remove the spell I put on your little friend. I suppose I may as well since the rest of her family died of old age long before you were born, boy." Duckie jumped in shock, her family was dead? She couldn't remember them so it wasn't as bad a shock as it could have been and she should have known based on how old the book with her story was, but she was still rather upset to find out this sad news. "But I won't do it without a price," Hexa concluded.

Fakir sighed, there was always a price to pay, "Why? All you'd be doing is undoing an injustice you performed many years ago, why should we have to pay?" Autor was motioning for Fakir stop, they needed to stay on this fairy's good side if they wanted to get anything done.

"Not a very fair question but I'll answer it anyways as you seem to be a bit thick: because I'm the one who has the power. You can't turn her back, your magic is still too weak," Fakir jumped at her comment and looked at Autor in shock, "Oh yes, I'm quite powerful and could sense the magic on you three before you even entered my castle. But to continue your magic is too weak you really have no other way of breaking the spell on your friend without my help."

"What's the price you wish us to pay?" Autor asked before Fakir could say anything else stupid.

"Nothing much really, just your dark friend's magical power."

"No way!" Fakir shouted and stood up angrily, knocking Duckie to the floor. She quacked indignantly and ruffled her feathers. "I'm not giving you my magic, that's too high a price!" Duckie quacked in agreement at Hexa, she wouldn't have him give up his writing for anything.

Hexa just laughed at him, "Really? Then how do you intend to turn her back into a human? Find some magic potion? Knit her a sweater of thistles? Do three impossible tasks for me? I made very sure that this curse couldn't be broken by normal means, I wouldn't have her parents wriggle out of my punishment. Not that they even tried, they didn't learn a thing from my little lesson." Hexa sighed and picked an imaginary speck of dust from her flowing sleeves. "And I would have changed her back too, if they had only shown a little humility and asked me."

"What do you mean? Her parents were very upset she was turned into a duck. Her mother even begged you to undo the spell." Fakir was confused, he didn't know whether to be angry at Hexa for making something up or to believe her words.

"Her majesty would have never stooped so low as to beg like a common woman, wherever did you hear such nonsense?" Hexa sniffed indignantly, and sipped at her tea some more.

"From the fairy tale we found, it told the story quite clearly." Fakir furrowed his brow, that was the story they had all sprung from, wasn't it?

"Do you have it with you?" Hexa asked. Fakir simply nodded, "Then let me read it." The fairy held out a perfectly manicured hand expectantly, Autor was starting to suspect that the fairy was wearing a glamour to make her appearance so infallibly perfect. Fakir picked up his pack and dug out the manuscript before opening it to the page Duckie's story was on and handing it over to Hexa. She quickly read through the story and began laughing again. "This? This is so inaccurate I don't blame you for thinking so ill of me! Calling the poor little duckling here their favorite, they couldn't tell her from their other daughters before I cursed her. Then they had a pond build right in the center of their garden so they could take all the visiting noblemen out to her and say 'Look, this is our daughter who was cursed by a fairy! We're so important and our children are so splendid that we even make fairies jealous!' It was really quite sickening." Hexa sniffed again before going on, "I suppose they had that son who was a scholar write that story to make themselves seem the victims instead of the conceited fools they were." Hexa sighed and sipped her tea delicately, snapping her fingers and holding her cup out expectantly as a servant hastily poured more in. "So I'm sure you understand why I didn't want to reverse the curse back then. I even made a vow that I never would until they had learned their lesson, though they never did. A vow is not easy to break, that is why I'm requiring you to pay such a seemingly large price. But really, wouldn't it be worth it to give up your writing for this poor, tragic princess?" Hexa smiled encouragingly at Fakir in the hopes that he would relent.

Duckie scowled at the fairy, then tugged on Fakir's pants to get his attention. She made the motion of refusal quite fervently to tell Fakir not to give up his magic. He nodded down at her, then held out his hand for the book the fairy was holding. "I'm afraid that she would never forgive me if I did something like that. Is there nothing else you would take instead?"

Hexa reluctantly handed the manuscript back to Fakir, who neatly tucked it into his pack. "I'm afraid that nothing you own would be worth it. Maybe that sword you have and what little magic that one holds if I were in a better mood." She motioned to Autor at the words 'that one' and sank petulantly deeper into her chair. These adventurers were always the same and she was really getting tired of this visit.

"I have magic?" Autor asked incredulously.

"Yes, you have the same magic that flows through your friends veins, probably by relation. You did say you were related, correct?" Autor nodded and Fakir scowled, looking over at Autor, then down at Duckie. They both were shaking their heads.

Fakir sighed, "I'm sorry, but there's no way I could give that up."

"Just as well, I wasn't looking forward to all the work it would take to fix this little ducky up. You're welcome to stay the night, I give you my word that no harm shall befall you while you stay here. Either way, I have business to attend to. If you'll excuse me." Hexa stood then and floated gently out the door without any more pleasantries.

Fakir looked over at Autor one last time, "There's no way in hell I'm spending the night in the same building as _her_." Autor nodded, they picked up their travel bags and Fakir scooped Duckie up. They were cordially led out by the servants all the way to where the bridge connected to the shore.

"Before you go, I have some information you may find useful," The servant girl whispered and leaned in conspiratorially. "I'd never say it where my mistress may hear but the Fairy Queen has an enchanted pool that removes the spells on all who touch it."

"What, really?" It seemed too good; something that magnificent couldn't just drop in their laps.

"Shhhh! Yes, really. I don't like Hexa, she's so full of herself and it hardly seems fair to punish the girl for her parents' faults. If you explain it to the Queen I'm sure she'll let the duck use her pond, I hear she had it made especially for situations like this." The two boys nodded eagerly, happily taking her directions to find the Queen's palace.

* * *

After three days hard travel to the east they came to a mountain, it took nearly two weeks to climb it but at the top they found a magnificent castle. This one was far more breath-taking than Hexa's, it was at least twice as large and not only seemed to be spun from glass but also reflected all the colors of the rainbow. There were pearls and precious gems set into the walls and a glowing road of light led over a deep chasm to the huge doors on the castle's front. A pair of knights in full armor that gleamed in the sunlight stood guard on their side of the chasm, when the trio approached the guards bowed and moved aside to allow them to pass. "Is this really safe?" Autor seemed far more nervous than he had at Hexa's castle.

"It's made of magic, remember?" Fakir eagerly started across the bridge, excited that their goal was finally in sight. Once inside they received the royal treatment, being allowed to bathe in a scented bath and have a private feast before meeting the Queen. Again they did not partake of any foods offered, though the temptation was almost too much to resist with how good it smelled. Instead they lounged on the couches lined with pillows before they were fetched to the throne room for their audience with her majesty. They were awed at the splendor of the palace, rich tapestries lined the hallways and silk carpets ran along the stone floors with stained glass windows depicting angels and saints letting multi colored light dance across the marble columns that supported the high arched ceiling. The throne room was just as large and magnificent as the hallways, a throne made of ivory at the very end with the queen sitting regally upon it. She was not as beautiful as Hexa had been, though she was still lovely to behold and was dressed in far finer clothing. "Greetings, travelers. It is a long journey to my mountain castle, sit and rest while you tell me your story." She smiled warmly at them as chairs were brought in by servants in regal uniforms for the two boys to sit in.

They gratefully sat down as Fakir again took the lead, explaining to the Queen all that had happened to them from the moment he figured out that Duckie wasn't really a duck all the way to the servant kindly informing them of the Queen's castle. Of course trying to explain how Fakir and Autor had met Duckie had led Fakir to tell the entire story of _The Prince and the Raven_ starting with Drosselmeyer's death but leaving a few details out such as Mytho's real name and the fact that Fakir wrote their happy ending. The Queen brooded over this story and their question for a long time before coming to her decision: "Yes, I'll let you use the disenchanting pond." The Queen rose from her throne and led the trio out into her garden. Tucked away in a far corner was a small, seemingly mundane pond lined with smooth river rocks. "I made this pond to break the spells cast by fairies, most of my subjects powerful enough to cast spells such as the one Duckie is under are petulant and spoiled, often just throwing spells at anyone with an imagined slight against them."

Fakir and Autor looked at the tiny pond with wonder, it couldn't have been more than a meter in diameter and looked rather shallow, but Fakir knew that looks could be deceiving and the pond could be endlessly deep once one was under the surface. Duckie was also staring at the pond, she felt quite nervous. She looked up to Fakir for reassurance as she snuggled a little closer to him. Fakir kneeled down to place her on the ground and whispered, "Moron, just get in the pond." He gently nudged her in the water's direction. Taking in a shaky breath she hopped onto one of the rocks lining the pool and gave Fakir one last nervous glance before jumping into the water. The water quickly smoothed out, far more quickly than natural water would have, and Duckie began to glow with a warm light. As the two boys and the Queen looked on the duck's silhouette grew and changed shape, when it had stopped changing the glow began to fade away. In place of the little yellow duck there stood a girl with strawberry blond hair, big blue eyes, and freckles on her round face dressed in a very old fashioned cream and yellow dress with trailing sleeves and a circlet on her head keeping a cream colored veil made of cotton on her head.

The Queen clapped happily, "I was worried that the other magic that you had become tangled with would interfere with the pond's magic." Duckie looked down at her human body, then up at Fakir.

The writer was speechless; it was all too good to be true. "Duckie..." he started to say but just couldn't find the words. Duckie's face crinkled up as her eyes began to fill with tears, she launched herself at Fakir to hug him close.

"And they lived happily ever after, the end," Autor stated in a slightly sarcastic manner.

* * *

Egads, this has to be the longest chapter I've ever written for anything, ten pages not including author's notes, and you have no idea how long it took me to figure out what to do with this monstrosity after I started it. I got stuck trying to decide how in the world they would turn Duckie back into a girl and I had the hardest time writing Hexa. I wanted her to be a bit of a Sue, what with being a fairy, but I also wanted her to be an arrogant, vain, stuck up bitch. Anyways, yes: the name of this chapter is very much inspired by Jim Henson's Labyrinth, I like that movie. And my disclaimer for the chapter: the original phrase is copyright to Jim Henson Co.

So... do you ever see a normal duck anywhere in the whole show? Or the manga (which I just recently got and read)? Nope, not one, not on the little pond Duckie was living on, not on the lake of despair, not on the little river flowing through the town... no ducks at all. And while that was fine during the show, it feels weird to read fics about Duckie interacting with ducks that feel like they shouldn't be there. And I wanted to do an ending where Duckie was a girl before she was a duck so it seemed perfect to put them together. Though I'm not happy with the implication that at least some of Duckie's power comes from her being a princess before Drosselmeyer got her involved, it really takes away a lot of the charm of the show if she's not a duck.

And lastly, as always, a big thanks to LunaSphere: you're such an inspiration, and also for pointing out that the tower I was talking about last chapter is actually the clock tower seen prominently in the middle of the town throughout the series and even in the opening sequence. I feel like such a doofus for not realizing that much, much sooner.


	8. Just a Girl

_Just a Girl_

**It felt like she was being pulled apart!** Duckie groaned and tried to move away from the pain but just didn't seem to have the strength. Her body felt so heavy, far too heavy, while she felt so weak. The pulling sensation was fading but in its wake was a burning fire that permeated her whole being. Duckie wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, feeling as if she were being weighed down, sweating so badly the bed she was on felt soaked, her throat parched as if she were lost in a desert, but eventually the heat too began to fade. There were glimpses then, a cool clothe on her forehead, voices murmuring quietly near her head, warm liquid poured into her mouth... all scattered and just as vague as the all consuming feeling of being pulled had been.

One afternoon Duckie opened her eyes and actually focused on the room around her, it was familiar but she couldn't place it for the life of her. She tried to sit up to get a better view but found that she was still too weak even if her body didn't feel quite so heavy anymore. Rather than give up she struggled harder to move when a pair of strong hands gently pushed her down. "Stop that, you're too weak to go anywhere yet."

She looked up into a pair of jade eyes in a stern looking face framed by dark hair. "Fakir?" She knew him, but she couldn't remember how or from where. "What...?" Duckie croaked, her whole throat felt parched and she licked her dry lips to try again. Fakir held a cup of warm tea up to her face and helped her drink it. There was a bitter taste of medicine mixed in with the lemon and honey, Ducky nearly gagged but forced herself to drink it. She knew the boy would make a fuss if she didn't.

"You've had a fever for a few days," Fakir supplied to her half asked question while she gulped at the tea. He pulled it away before she could do something stupid like choke on it as he continued, "You're still pretty weak so you'll have to stay in bed for a few more days but at least the fever finally broke."

"I don't remember..." Duckie trailed off again, the effort just to speak seemed like a bit much which just made her frown.

"There was a summer rain storm, you got caught out in it and didn't dry off properly afterwards. You'd have gotten off with nothing but a cold but you wouldn't stay in bed and rest like you need to right now. So just go to sleep and I'll check on you later." Duckie felt like retorting, he was just being so... so Fakir right now! But she was tired and her eyelids were getting heavier. She nodded and relaxed deeper into the pillow, letting sleep overtake her again. This time she slept heavily, no more strange dreams.

* * *

When next Duckie woke it was early in the morning, clear bright light was streaming gently through the open curtains and the air had a delightful chill to it. She suspected it was crisp and fresh outside the window but the room felt quite stuffy. She shifted and scooted up a bit, trying to sit up and have a good look around the room. It wasn't long before her muscles gave in and left her lying against the pillow but at least she got a slightly better view. A completely empty writing desk, a familiar looking lamp that tugged at her memory, a plain door closed tightly, and not much else. It was, in all, a very Spartan room. After some time to try and figure out why the room seemed so familiar and not at the same time the boy from the day before entered carrying a tray with several dishes sitting on it. "Good morning, Duckie," He greeted.

Duckie furrowed her brow as she looked up at him. "Who are you?"

"What?" Fakir reeled back in shock, nearly dropping the tray. "Duckie... what do you... you know who I am."

"I know your name is Fakir and I think we're friends but I don't remember how we met or where or who you are. I can't remember anything at all!" Duckie started to tear up, she felt very vulnerable being stripped of her memory.

Fakir set the tray aside and brushed Duckie's hair aside, feeling the temperature of her forehead. "You still feel a little warm but the fever's pretty much gone, you probably lost your memory because you were so sick." Duckie sniffled and nodded a little, she supposed that made sense. "Something to eat and plenty of bed rest and you'll be back to normal in no time, okay?" Duckie nodded and made another attempt to sit up so she could get something to eat. Instead of pushing her down again Fakir helped her to sit up and pulled up a chair next to the bed. "Here, open up." He picked up the bowl from the tray and a spoon, Duckie could smell chicken broth and assorted other scents wafting up in the steam.

"I can feed myself." The girl made a face at the boy as he held up a spoon brimming with soup up to her.

"I don't trust you not to make a big mess. Just be good and let me feed you now and I promise I'll let you feed yourself at lunch, okay?" He held up the spoon of soup again and offered it to the stubborn girl. She grimaced but finally nodded and let him feed her. She couldn't help feeling inexplicably happy that he was taking care of her while at the same time feeling angry that he was treating her like a small child.

* * *

Duckie looked both ways, peering carefully out the door before quietly slipping into the hallway. She had just spent the last three days holed up in that tiny room with only that jerk and occasionally his sweet foster father for company. Not that Duckie minded Fakir's behavior that much, but there was only so much of him she could take at one time. And that room was so dull! She had already read all the books that he had left her to read, counted all the boards that made up the floor, and memorized the little patch of scenery she could see through the window and if she didn't get out for a little bit she would go completely insane! Thus Duckie reasoned with herself that so long as she stayed indoors she would be all right.

She crept as quietly as possible down the hallway and soon found another closed door, quickly deciding that it was better to just have a look around and then head back to the room before Fakir decided to check on her. She passed two more doors, snuck through a kitchen, and then came to a stair well, this decision wasn't made as quickly. On the one hand she was still recovering from being seriously ill and should probably turn back now, on the other she was feeling quite energetic and her curiosity was starting to burn. A quick glance back to make sure no one was following and to remind herself that the room wasn't that far away followed by quick, dainty steps down the stairs. When she got to the bottom Duckie realized that she could hear voices just around the corner from the landing, she stood quite still and tried to listen but they were talking in hushed voices and couldn't make any of it out. She took a deep breath and peeked quickly around the corner.

It was a room full old things, swords, vases, shields, pieces of armor, etc... At the far end of the over stuffed room were two people, Fakir and Charon from the looks of it, facing away and doing something with their hands while quietly chatting with each other. Duckie was grateful they were looking away from her and quickly hid back behind the stair well. Now seemed as good a time as any to head back to the room and she quickly started back up the stairs. Unfortunately for Duckie the effort quickly exhausted her, leaving her panting half way up the stairs and struggling just to get up the next step. As she adjusted her grip on the rail to pull herself up her hand slipped and she fell unceremoniously down the stairs with a great noise and a crash landing at the bottom. "Owwww..." The poor girl would have tried to pull herself back up but two sets of hands quickly did that for her.

"What are you doing out of bed? Did you hurt yourself? Moron, you're just going to make yourself sicker!" Fakir shot off his inquiries while holding her steady, Charon was batting at some dirt on her nightgown and chuckling quietly to himself. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Duckie glared at Fakir, his attitude was really annoying her. "I was bored and just wanted to look around a little, I was going right back to my room when I fell." She glared balefully at the youth who was currently supporting her weight and dared him to yell at her more. Instead he only sighed.

"If you hadn't left the room at all you wouldn't be in this mess. C'mon, let's get you back into bed." He easily lifted her up princess style and started carrying her up the stairs, Charon had mysteriously vanished before she could call for help. Duckie blushed at the attention, she really couldn't help herself with the way she was being carried. But it only lasted for a moment, "Man, you're heavy. What have you been eating?"

"Shut up! I've only been eating what you guys have been feeding me, and I'm not that heavy, I'm sure."

"You're so heavy I'm going to get hurt and then we'll both be stuck in our rooms with nothing to do." They bantered like this all the way up the stairs and into Duckie's room where Fakir immediately tucked her in, ordered her to stay right where she was, and fetched her some more books as well as pencils and paper. "Now, stay here and don't leave again until you're well again," Fakir ordered sternly and left, Duckie wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out as he shut the door behind him. At least she had some new books to read now, with a sigh she opened up the first one and began reading.

* * *

Duckie snuck out twice more, with the same results, before she was finally declared fit to leave her room. It had been an agonizing week, Duckie often lamenting how boring books in general were and longing to go outside and feel the grass between her feet. She usually kept quiet about her feelings but they would boil over when she'd get caught by Fakir and carried back to bed. It was quite a relief to finally be told that she could actually go out without getting in trouble!

Duckie hummed a happy tune while she finished getting dressed, a happy little yellow outfit that put her in an extra good mood. With confident steps she left the room and walked right into the dining room where Charon was setting the breakfast table. "Good morning, Duckie, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling really good this morning, Charon! Like I could take on the world!"

"Just don't over do it, you're still a little weak and need to take it easy." He didn't notice that the girl he was talking to had become distracted and was no longer paying him any attention. Instead she was staring into a pair of wide, blue eyes that eerily reminded her of her own.

"Charon, why is there a duck sitting on the table?" Duckie pointed at the little yellow duck who was calmly sitting on the table as if it was the most normal thing.

"Oh, she's another invalid," Charon replied cheerfully while placing a small bowl of bread crumbs in front of the duck and affectionately petting her head. "Poor little thing was injured and stuck out in the storm, then you rescued her and brought her back to the house. Of course, you fussing over her is part of why you got so sick in the first place. About ready for breakfast?"

Duckie looked at the duck, who was happily pecking at her own breakfast, and thought over what Charon had told her. "I guess so..." She didn't remember the summer storm that she had been told about, but then again she didn't remember much of anything right now. Duckie sat quietly through breakfast, staring at the duck while chewing thoughtfully. She sat quietly outside while staring at the duck sitting next to her, Charon thought the two invalids could keep each other company. She sat quietly at the table for lunching, munching slowly while staring at the duck pecking breadcrumbs on the table again. She sat quietly in the living room while staring at the duck sitting happily in a basket on the floor. It was while she sat quietly through dinner, slowing nibbling her meal while staring at the duck some more, that Fakir finally could not take any of her strange behavior anymore.

"In all the time I've known you, you have never been so quiet! What in the world is wrong with you?"

"Huh?" Duckie looked up from the duck, startled. "Uh well... it's just... I was thinking, that's all?"

"And just what were you thinking so hard about?" Fakir asked a bit incredulously. Duckie's trains of thought in the past had proven to be quite... troubling to say the least.

"Just... that... does the duck have a name?" Duckie asked weakly, she knew the question was lame but she didn't feel quite up to explaining that she really didn't know why she had been staring at the duck all day.

"Well... we've just been calling her Duck." Fakir said just as lamely.

"That's not right, she should have a proper name!" Duckie insisted. Fakir looked tired and put his face in his hand. He couldn't tell her that she was the one who should have a proper name.

"I agree with Duckie," Charon stated quite happily, "The duck deserves a proper name. Duckie, since you're the one who found her you should be the one to do it."

"Huh? Me? Uh..." Duckie went back to staring at the duck, her meal completely forgotten. Fakir felt that this wasn't much of an improvement. "I'll have to think about it for a little while."

"You've plenty of time, you still have to take it easy for a couple days," Charon said helpfully, he winked slyly at Fakir and went back to eating his dinner. The rest of the meal continued far more normally, Charon and Duckie chatted happily about possible names for the duck and Fakir gave a couple options himself once in a while and happily let his two friends chatter while he remained silent the rest of the time.

* * *

Duckie sat on a short wall, her chin propped on her hands with her elbows propped on her knees, her whole figure slouched over and oozing of boredom as she watched Fakir diligently weeding the small herb garden behind the antiques shop. She sighed heavily to voice said frustration. "If you're that bored why don't you go find something else to do?" Fakir asked as he plucked another weed from the garden.

"There's nothing else to do. I don't see why you won't let me help you, I wasn't that bad at gardening last time." Fakir winced at her statement, the tomato plant was never going to fully recover from her clumsy attempts at weeding.

"No, find something else to do. Go help Charon or something."

"Charon's busy restoring antiques, the house is already all tidied up, the horse has been fed and watered and brushed down, and I've already read every book in the whole house five times over. There is absolutely nothing else to do than follow you around."

"You could always go to school and practice," Fakir suggested blandly.

"Practice...?" Duckie repeated blankly, staring at him as if he had spoken in a foreign language.

"Yes, practice. You should have recovered enough to be able to by now and you were already far enough behind at the end of the school year without being laid up for nearly two months. If I remember correctly you weren't allowed to learn pointe with the rest of the class, right?"

"Pointe?" Duckie's eyebrows scrunched up in concentration as she tried to dredge up what that word meant to her. Everything Fakir said rang of familiarity but she couldn't quite grasp it... "Oh, ballet! I had forgotten!" Duckie laughed a little too loudly.

Fakir rolled his eyes, "Only you would forget something like that, moron."

Duckie shot him a venomous glare, "I had a fever and got amnesia, it's not my fault if something like that slipped from my mind! But I remember it all now so it's okay." Duckie beamed happily at Fakir before jumping down from the short garden wall and dusted off her yellow shorts. "But you're right, I should practice. Do you think the practice room is open right now?"

"It's open every week day afternoon for the special and summer classes, mornings are for students who have no where else to practice. Though by now I think most of the classes are over so you might have a little time to yourself at the barre."

"Thanks, Fakir!" Duckie waved goodbye as she headed for the back door and up the stairs.

A quick search of the room later and Duckie found her practice leotard and ballet shoes, she quickly bundled them up and ran back outside, jogging all the way to Gold Crown Academy with fresh enthusiasm and a big grin spread across her face. The grin wasn't there anymore when she opened the door and found an older woman and five girls already practicing in the room. She quickly shut it before any of them could look in her direction and ran to hide in the locker room with a face red from embarrassment. "I bet Fakir lied about the times just so something like this would happen!" She fumed to herself after a short time of hiding in the corner. She quickly let the thought go and became bored again. "I wonder how long they'll take?" Deciding she could at least learn something by observing the special class she snuck up the balcony over looking the room and watched in rapture as the girls practiced advanced moves and took instruction from the teacher she recognized as Professor Goatherd.

Duckie sat entranced looking down on them as they practiced a choreographed danced together, the girl in the Prima Red leotard taking center stage. The small girl frowned, something seemed not quite right. Who was the girl in red? Duckie squinted harder as she peered down at the girl who had her red hair up in a tight pony tail as she danced with the other girls. The red head was familiar but Duckie seemed to last remember her in the same navy leotard as the other girls in the special class. Instead her mind brought up raven hair framing ruby eyes in an elegant face. Duckie couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness as well as familiarity with and fondness for the strange girl she was remembering in Prima Donna Red but for the life of her couldn't remember why. She was interrupted from trying to think about it further by the sounds of the special class being let out for the day. The four of the girls chatted happily together while the fifth, a blonde with her hair up in pigtails, was animatedly talking about something with the teacher. Deciding to put the memory aside for later study and to practice instead now that the room was free Duckie quickly and quietly tread down the stairs and back into the practice room.

* * *

Duckie was brooding all through dinner again, and it was driving Fakir nuts! Why couldn't the girl just be her usual, silly self and stop acting like she had just tainted Mytho's heart all over again? With a long suffering sigh he turned on the tap and began preparing to wash the dishes as Duckie cleared the dinner table. "You better get to bed early tonight, tomorrow we can go practice together before breakfast."

Duckie looked at Fakir in surprise but then her face melted into a small smile. "That would be great, Fakir. Though there's no need to scold me like that, I always wake up early."

Fakir smiled at her lifted spirits as he teased her, "Weren't you always forced to stay after and clean for being late?"

Duckie scowled at Fakir as she unceremoniously dumped the dirty dishes into the soapy water he had filled the sink with. "I'll have you know that I was hardly ever late, those were usually because of something that happened during class."

"Like that's any better," Fakir smirked. It was strange to watch a boy scrubbing away at dirty dishes to smirk, especially while wearing an apron. Duckie couldn't help but giggle at the sight. Then their conversation reminded her of the strange feeling of loneliness she had felt while watching the other girls practice.

"Say Fakir, something strange happened today." Fakir turned to look at her, standing sheepishly in the middle of the kitchen and looking forlornly at her feet. He waited for her to continue and she did, briefly detailing how she watched the special class, leaving out her almost interrupting them, and describing the face of the girl from her memories that brought up a confusion of feelings. Fakir had turned back to the dishes meanwhile, nodding as she talked and occasionally asking a question to show that he was listening.

"That sounds like Rue, she was the prima donna last year but left with her boyfriend, Mytho, on a scholarship. I think you two were just becoming friends when they left but we were just becoming friends ourselves so I'm not really sure." Duckie nodded along with what Fakir was saying, it all seemed to make sense.

"Okay then, my memory's still pretty fuzzy but I think I remember something like that. Thanks, Fakir, I feel a lot better now!" Fakir simply nodded and handed Duckie a towel.

"Good, because you need to start drying the dishes and put them away."

* * *

And so the few weeks before the first day of school passed swiftly and peacefully. Fakir and Duckie got up every morning to practice together, then spent the rest of the day doing chores around the house and generally enjoying what little vacation they had left. Duckie often went to the pond to visit the lone yellow duck with impossibly blue eyes that had grown fond of the humans who had rescued her. Fakir often accompanied the girl to the pond, paper and ink well in had to spend the after noon curled up under the nearby tree or out on the dock writing while Duckie happily dangled her bare feet in the cool water. But alas time stands still for no one and all too soon Fakir and Duckie were moving their things into their respective dorm rooms along with the rest of the school's on campus population the Saturday before classes started up again.

With squeals of delight Duckie greeted Pique and Lillie, whose memories of the previous year were strangely vague but who were just as happy to see Duckie again as she was to see them. With his usual smirk in place Fakir watched their loud and happy antics from across the square as an old acquaintance of his own came over for a greeting. "So, I see your plan worked."

"You already knew it did, Autor. I'm surprised you didn't come over and see for yourself as soon as I wrote to you about it." Fakir shot back a little snarkily.

"So how much does she remember?" Autor asked, not so subtly changing the subject..

"She doesn't remember anything about Drosselmeyer or his story, just like the rest of the town," Fakir sounded a little wistful as he replied.

"Isn't that a little strange considering what a big role she played?" Autor looked at Fakir incredulously.

"Not really," Fakir replied calmly, "Afterall, it was Princess Tutu who played a big role, and the little duck who played the biggest role of all. Duckie was just a girl who ran around and annoyed the heck out of everyone." Autor's face had gone from incredulous to outright flabbergasted, but he quickly recovered and smirked himself as he adjusted his glasses.

"I suppose you're right about that."

* * *

This is what happens when I don't have a clear ending in mind when I start writing. Oh, I always have a general idea or concept when I start but when I don't have a goal you guys get to read nearly nine pages of pointless rambling. You don't even get an interesting plot or moving story like last time, just this sad attempt at a slice of life story. Ah well, perhaps I'll revisit the concept at a later date to try and write it to my satisfaction, since this one is so disappointing. Maybe have Duckie actually remember that she and the little yellow Duck used to be the same person. And no, I didn't name the Duck. I just... I so wrote myself into a corner with that one. Feel free to name her whatever you want.


	9. Beginning Again?

AN: I edited this chapter quite a bit, cut a scene, added two or three in its place, and edited another for continuity plus fixed a few little things here and there. The real changes start at around the middle of the chapter for those that read the previous, and it is a drastic change.

* * *

_Beginning Again?_

It was such a familiar feeling, watching the scene before her. As a single, little yellow duck she floated serenely on the water's surface, the little lake smooth as glass, the early morning light gently kissing the cool mist spread over the lake. As Duckie watched a figure began dancing upon the surface of the water as if it were solid, though her feet dangling below the surface testified otherwise. Something wasn't quite the same, instead of a pale prince dancing in the equally pale mist a dark prince was dancing in the shadows. Duckie thought she saw a flash of forest green but she wasn't quite sure.

At any moment she expected to hear a deep voice muttering from the shadows near her, to see a looming face come leering out of the mist at her, but instead the dark prince stepped lightly over to her and gently placed a golden chain around her neck. Before she could react she fell into the water and began thrashing around frantically, trying to break the surface again. As she kicked and flailed she only sank further and managed to fall off her bed, giving herself a nasty bump on the head but otherwise being unharmed.

"Ouch! That really… eeeeh?" Duckie stopped rubbing her head and looked confusedly at her hands, they were actual hands and not wings. "I'm… I'm a girl again? How is that possible?" She looked around in confusion, it was her old dorm room right down to the bunk bed she had fallen out of. She was tangled up in her sheets and wearing a creamy nightgown and around her neck… "What's this?" She held up the golden chain attached to a blood red pendant that was glittering brightly in the light streaming in through her window. "But… the story's over, I gave the last piece back to Mytho and turned back into a duck permanently. I don't understand." She would have just sat there on the floor all twisted up in her sheets staring at the red jewel if there hadn't been a knock on her door right then.

"Duckie? Are you awake? It's almost time for class, you'd better run around and panic!"

"Stop that!" The sound of a hand forcefully making its acquaintance with a skull was heard dully through the door, "You know today's not a school day!"

"Awww… but Duckie's just so adorable when she panics!"

Duckie just sat dumbly on the floor, pendant clasped tightly in her little fist while she stared at the door. "Pique, Lillie…" she murmured softly.

"Duckie, are you awake yet?" Pique knocked on the door before peeking in. "What are you doing, were you sleeping on the floor?"

"Oh, something just terrible must have happened and she sank so deep into depression that she couldn't even climb into bed!" Lillie peeked into the room over Pique's shoulder, though she was too starry eyed to really see the room.

"No, I had a nightmare and fell out of bed." Duckie was unwinding the bed sheets in an attempt to free herself before Lillie decided to do her bodily harm. "But I'm awake now so it's okay."

"Oh, you poor thing! Even your dreams are full of failure and disaster! But we're here to comfort you." Lillie had grabbed Duckie's head in a comforting hug, cutting off her air supply. Pique, meanwhile, had taken over where Duckie left off abruptly, pulling the sheets apart. "So what was your dream about?"

"I was… drowning. Yes, I was in a lake and I was drowning and couldn't get to the surface." Duckie laughed with nervous embarrassment and rubbed the lump that was forming on her head.

"Well you were so tangled up in these sheets it's no wonder you dreamed of drowning! Anyway, we're going on ahead to breakfast, hurry up and get ready so we can go shopping today like we planned." The two girls abruptly got up and waved cheerfully as they left Duckie alone. She simply sighed and finished pulling herself out of her bed sheets, pondering the strange situation she had found herself in all the while. She went through the motions of getting dressed and ready for the day mechanically while pondering what to do. "Didn't Fakir write the ending? Hasn't he been working so hard to finish untangling the town from Drosselmeyer's story? Wait, that's what I'll do, I'll go talk to Fakir! Together I'm sure we can figure out what's going on! It's a little mean to just ditch Pique and Lillie like this but this is far more important." With a plan of action set out Duckie straightened her garishly bright shoes and went running full tilt out of the dorm.

* * *

It was Autor that Duckie found first, she would have much rather have found Fakir first but she would take what she could get. When she spotted him in the library she quickly rushed over to the table he was at and tried to say quietly, though still rather excitedly, "Where's Fakir, I think another story has started!"

Autor smirked and adjusted his glasses, "What makes you think that?"

"I'm a girl again, and I have a pendant again. It's probably what made me a girl, I haven't tested it out yet, but it looks almost exactly like the first one and I shouldn't be a girl and I can't remember turning into one and Pique and Lillie were acting as if I always had been but I haven't so they're probably under control of the story too and it's all just weird and we need to figure out what's going on." Autor just sat there and let her ramble on, the girl had lung power if nothing else. "Anyway, we need to find Fakir and see if he knows what's going on yet."

"Tested it out? How would you 'test out' a pendant?" Autor's smirk just widened as he asked the question.

"What, well I… if this works we may need some water to change me back." Duckie quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking, then took a deep breath, "Quack!" She waited for the inevitable change, the tingly feeling of shifting forms, the confusion from a sudden change in perspective, the faint red glow and the sound of something like chimes heard faintly in the back of her head.

Nothing happened.

"Well… I guess that didn't do it. My other pendant would turn me back into a duck if I quacked." She held the pendant up and looked at it curiously. "Maybe it's not what's making me a girl right now." When Autor saw her reach behind and unclasp the chain he didn't have time to do more than reach forward and utter half a sound before she had pulled it off and shoved it into his hand. The very second her fingers let go of the red jewel everything she had expected to happen earlier did. To Autor's horror Duckie had disappeared in a flash of red sparkles and her clothes had fallen to the floor and small yellow duck had crawled out and looked up at him with impossibly large eyes.

Autor sighed in defeat as he gathered up Duckie and her clothes and walked quickly to a hidden corner of the library. Once they were tucked away in a nook he set Duckie and her things down, placed the pendant around her neck, then quickly turned and faced the other way so she could dress in private. When Duckie had finished she stepped out from behind Autor, "It seems we have that figured out. I wonder why it doesn't change me when I quack?"

"Yes indeed, are you through messing around yet?" Autor adjusted his glasses and frowned at Duckie, the girl could be horribly impulsive.

"You're the one who asked." She glared right back at Autor, until she remembered why she had even started talking to him in the first place. "Anyway, do you know where Fakir is?"

"No, I don't know, why would you think I would?"

"I didn't, you just happened to be here so I thought I'd ask in case he was here earlier or something. I can't think of anywhere else to look right now. I checked Charon's place, the lake, the replica of Drosselmeyer's writing place, and the practice room." Duckie counted off every place she had been on her fingers as she recited her list.

"He could be in the boy's dorm," Autor replied calmly. Duckie's face brightened up immediately, then fell back into unhappiness.

"I can't go in the boy's dorm. Will you check for me pleeeeeeaaaase!" She clasped her hands in front of her and looked at him beseechingly with such large, innocent eyes that Autor didn't really have much of a choice.

"If it will get you to leave me alone for the rest of the day then yes, I'll check for you."

"Oh thank you so much!" Duckie bounced around gleefully as Autor led the way to the boy's dorm. Once there Duckie waited near the door as Autor went inside to find Fakir. Unfortunately for the girl her friends found her before Autor could come back.

"There you are, Duckie! What are you doing here, we were supposed to spend the afternoon together!" Pique and Lillie ran up and grabbed an arm each, ready to drag her off.

"Maybe she's waiting for one of the boy's to come out so she can make a confession! Poor Duckie, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment, but we'll be here to comfort you when he rejects you!" Lillie had grabbed Duckie's face and was stretching and pulling her skin all over the place.

"Who would she confess to now? Mytho left with Rue last summer."

"Oh how tragic, she came here to wait for someone who'll never come back again. Poor Duckie, your unrequited love will forever be a wound in your sweet little heart!"

"But that's not-" Duckie started before getting cut off again.

"You can pine for Mytho later, we're supposed to be having a girl's day out right now." Before she could protest further she was dragged off, much to Fakir and Autor's amusement as they stepped out just in time to see her towed through the dorm's gateway.

* * *

It wasn't until that evening that Duckie finally had a chance to talk to Fakir, she found him out by her pond when she had gone there to get away from Pique and Lillie. "Fakir, I didn't expect to see you here." He was sitting at the dock, his feet dangling in the water with pen in hand and paper in his lap. She could see writing down to nearly the bottom of the page he was on and ink all over his fingers as she sat down next to him, taking off her shoes and letting her feet dangle in the cool water next to him. "So I take it Autor explained everything to you?" Fakir simply nodded, putting his pen and paper aside to give her his full attention. "Did you guys find anything out about the story? Who's controlling it? What's going on?"

"Stay out of it." Duckie gasped and stared at Fakir, he hadn't used such a harsh tone with her since Kraehe had kidnapped Mytho.

"What do you mean 'stay out of it?' It looks like the town is under the control of a story again and I've been turned back into a girl and for all I know this pendant will turn me into some sort of hero and I'll have to go through everything all over again!" Duckie had tears in her eyes by this point and they looked about ready to spill over.

Fakir looked shocked for a moment before turning away quickly and replying in an angry voice, "I said stay out of it because there's nothing for you to worry about. I won't let anyone else control the town so just do as you're told."

"Then what's going on, did you do this? You know something you're not telling me!"

"You can be such a stubborn moron sometimes." Fakir gathered up his writing materials and stormed past Duckie and back to town. The tears did spill down her face now, she was just so angry at Fakir for being so harsh with her and worried about the way things suddenly changed. But the more she sat there the angrier she was at herself for yelling right back at him.

"I should go apologize to him, even if he was being a jerk." She quickly scrubbed the tears from her face and put her shoes back on, now soggy because she didn't dry her feet off before shoving them on. "Oh ick, that's uncomfortable! Well, can't do anything about that now." And with that she took off running back to town.

* * *

Duckie didn't have a chance to apologize to Fakir, it was far too late in the evening to do anything else but go to bed. As the next day was Monday she had no choice but to go to class like normal and hope she could find him after school. It was very strange to be back in class again like she had never left, but was comforted when she realized that there were no alligators, ant eaters, hippos, or giant cat teachers. She found it strange but everything felt a little dull, actually. Why would she miss the craziness that was normalcy in Drosselmeyer's story? She should be happy that it was peaceful and normal now. Of course, Professor Goatherd caught her being distracted and made her stay after to clean the practice room so Duckie couldn't go find Fakir until it was late in the day, and by then Pique and Lillie had decided that they wanted, no _needed_, to spend the evening consoling her over Mytho and gossiping about the other students. Three days passed in this manner, Duckie was afraid that she'd never get to talk to Fakir at this rate.

"Have you noticed that lately Fakir seems a little darker than usual?" Duckie perked up when she heard her friend say this, it was almost like she were reading her thoughts.

"I don't know, I haven't really seen Fakir lately," Duckie replied carefully.

"Well, he used to scowl and growl at everyone, but right around the time that Mytho left he started to smile and calm down a little. But for the last few days it's like he's gone back to being the dark prince." Pique explained.

"I do think I noticed something like that," Duckie said cautiously.

"But doesn't it add to his mystique and charm? The dark prince who girls can't help but swoon over!" Lillie practically squealed with delight

"Yeah, there's just something about him being a bad boy that's irresistible." Pique gave a dreamy sigh as she thought about Fakir. Duckie, however, liked Fakir better when he let go of his controlling, angry behavior and was worried that he was under the control of another malicious Author.

"I'm sorry guys, but I really can't spend the whole day with you today, okay? I have to go." Duckie got up and ran out before they could question where she was going or stop her, today she was going to talk to Fakir. Fortunately she found him quite easily this time, sitting out on a grassy hill near one of the school buildings. Without any preamble she sat down next to him and started in, "So what's really happening?"

"I thought I told you not worry about such useless things?"

"How can I help but worry when things get weird all of a sudden and you're acting like an angry jerk? Something's going on and either you're under someone else's control and don't realize it or you know what's going on and won't tell me. Since this is affecting me I think I at least deserve to know." Duckie glared at Fakir, it felt like they were starting over from the very beginning again and she didn't want to lose the friendship they had worked so hard to gain.

Fakir ran his hand through his hair and sighed with frustration. "You're right, you do deserve to know. I'm the one who wrote this story. I just… you're the one who worked hardest to get a Happy Ending and it seems like you got gypped of your own."

"Oh…" Duckie's anger drained away so quickly that she actually didn't know what to do or say for a little while. "I uh… I'm sorry I yelled at you a few days ago… and today."

"It's okay, I should have just told you what was going on from the beginning."

"It's not cheating, making me human again after that promise we made in the Lake of Despair?" She looked over at him worriedly.

"No, it's not, just because you were born as a duck doesn't change that you have a human heart. You earned your Happy Ending and I said I was going to write the Ending of the Story." Fakir smiled gently at Duckie, she realized how much she missed those gentle smiles.

"Thank you, Fakir." She smiled back at him, so genuinely happy that she started to tear up again.

* * *

A couple of weeks had passed and Duckie found it quite easy to get back into the routine of class, practice, and time spent with friends. She found that without an epic adventure taking up a lot of her thoughts that she was able to focus on her dancing more and was actually starting to show improvement. Fakir offering to share the practice room with her in the mornings was helping too, she found that she enjoyed practicing with him and was delighted that they could share a pas de deux that wasn't a competition or at the bottom of a lake. Thus it was that one morning she walked into the practice room to find Fakir reading a letter on impossibly white paper, a gilded envelope held loosely in his other hand. Duckie walked up to his side and looked at it curiously though politely not reading the letter. "What is it?"

"It's a letter from Mytho and Rue, I wrote them about you being a girl again and they finally wrote back, would you like to read it?" Fakir held the paper up to Duckie expectantly and she eagerly accepted.

Duckie smiled as she read the letter, Mytho and Rue sent their warm regards and congratulations on Duckie being turned back into a girl, they regretted not writing back sooner but were quite busy preparing for the upcoming wedding and would be honored if Duckie and Fakir could attend. Duckie looked up at Fakir with shining eyes, "They're inviting us to their wedding!"

"I know, I already read the whole letter."

"But… will we be able to go? Aren't they inside the story?"

"Of course we can go, we have an official invitation from the Prince and Princess themselves, moron." Fakir looked at Duckie affectionately as he said that.

"But I don't understand… I thought they were married when they left?"

"Keep reading." Fakir just smirked as Duckie turned back to the letter happily. He was right, the letter went on to explain that the ceremony was a formality for the kingdom's sake as well as a coronation for the royal couple.

"Oh, they're going to be made King and Queen! How lovely!" Duckie beamed happily at Fakir, he could only smile at her in return.

"Shall I write back that we accept?"

"Of course! I can't imagine missing such an important day!" Duckie was almost indignant that Fakir would even suggest that Duckie might not want to go.

Fakir merely chuckled as he plucked the letter out of Duckie's hands and tucked it back away into the ethereal envelope. "We can both write the letter later, right now we need to practice." Duckie simply nodded as she began her warm ups while Fakir tucked the letter safely under his towel.

* * *

"I couldn't help but notice you and Fakir are always in the practice room together when the rest of us come in for class." Pique was poking Duckie's face in mild irritation, "What are you two doing every morning?"

"Just practicing…" Duckie and her two friends were going through stretches in a tight cluster at the barre while the rest of the class were spread throughout the room doing various warm ups and stretches.

"Oh how cute, practicing so hard every morning before class even though you're doomed to fail. It's okay Duckie, you don't have to try so hard!"

"And what are you doing practicing with Fakir, though? Are you going after him?" Pique seemed a little more than just irritated at this point.

"A secret rendezvous every morning behind your best friend's back!" Lillie seemed far too excited over the prospect of her best friends having a battle.

"It's not like that, Fakir and I are just friends. He's helping me get better, Professor Goatherd even says soon she'll start teaching me en pointe." Duckie was waving her hands around a little frantically at this point in her attempts to placate her friends.

"Then you'll get to dance together with us again instead of spending most of your time on the side lines watching us." Both her friends got far away looks in their eyes, "Though… why Professor Goatherd kept you in the normal class instead of knocking you back to probationary class when you can't dance en pointe with us…"

Duckie blinked and looked at her friends, they had a point that she hadn't even thought about. Pique just shook her head and plowed on, "So when did you and Fakir become such good friends anyways?"

"Yeah, yeah! This is all so sudden!" Lillie simply nodded along with Pique.

"A while ago, back before Mytho and Rue left!" A lot of time had passed, nearly a whole year! Duckie still didn't know what Fakir had done to fill in the gaps of their memory, he refused to let her read the story he had written and she had simply let him keep his silence. Pique and Lillie looked ready to ask more questions but before they could the teacher had walked in and was calling for everyone's attention.

* * *

Several months passed before the wedding actually took place, they take a lot of planning after all. Many swans were sent back and forth between Gold Crown and the White Castle bearing many gilt and plain letters. Rue was so excited to have Duckie at the wedding that she had insisted Duckie be her maid of honor. Duckie had refused at first, proclaiming with many splotches and misspellings that she couldn't perform all the duties a maid of honor usually did as she wasn't there with Rue helping her to plan her wedding. Rue had written back confidently stating that there were enough servants and ladies in waiting at the castle to organize everything for her and then imploring Duckie to please accept as Duckie was her first and truest friend and she would have no other for her maid of honor, Duckie had to accept. Mytho, likewise, wanted Fakir to stand up with him as his loyal knight and faithful friend. So what had originally been a one day affair with Duckie and Fakir being guests of honor had become a weeklong stay with the two being principal players in the event itself.

Duckie was fidgeting as they waited at the top of the clock tower for their carriage to arrive, she was excited to see Rue and Mytho again after so long but also nervous about what the inside of the story would be like. But more importantly she was worried about what the other people would be like and what they would think of her. Fakir laid a calming hand on her arm, "There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I know… but I can't help it! I keep thinking about what it's like to live in a castle and be royalty and I'm just… I'm just me."

"Moron," Duckie glared at Fakir but he smirked, at least she wasn't so nervous when she was angry, "Without you we would still be stuck in limbo without an end for the story. Or maybe even worse: the tragic ending that Drosselmeyer wanted." Duckie's face softened, Fakir knew just what to say to calm her down. The sound of flapping wings prevented further conversation and the two turned to see a large, open, egg shaped carriage drawn by four glowing swans descend gracefully from the sky.

"Is that Rue and Mytho inside the carriage?" Duckie was squinting at the golden carriage as it drew closer.

"I think so," Fakir was just as surprised to see the royal couple themselves come to pick them up. Duckie simply waved and called out to her friends excitedly, she was even bouncing up and down as the others waved back.

"I didn't expect the two of you to come pick us up!"

"We have a lot of catching up to do and Mytho wanted to see you as soon as possible so we thought 'Why not?' and just came ourselves." Rue beamed happily at her friends, she even had a soft spot for Fakir now that they weren't on opposing sides. The trip back to the castle was filled with a great deal of chatter because apparently frequent and long letters simply aren't enough.

* * *

The wedding was the most beautiful thing Duckie had ever seen! Duckie proudly walked at the head of a long line of maids with Fakir at her side as the best man while Mytho, called Prince Siegfried during the ceremony, stood in his most regal attire with the priest at the foot of the dais. Rue had worn the very same dress she had when they first left Gold Crown and was quite radiant as she walked down the aisle. The ceremony was held with great pomp and ritual as the priest solemnly went through their vows. Upon his proclaiming: "You may now kiss the bride," a great cheer went up from all the guests in attendance. The royal couple immediately ascended the dais and sat side by side on their thrones as their simple crowns were removed and a more ornate pair, with delicate filigree and sparkling jewels, were placed upon their heads, a herald proclaiming them King and Queen of the kingdom. This time the applause was thunderous as a grand roar went up from the throne room. A band was struck up and a triumphant march was played with much enthusiasm, confetti littered the air and Duckie gazed happily at her friends. Fakir, meanwhile, was staring at Duckie with great focus.

It took quite a while before the crowd could calm down enough for the festivities to begin in earnest, but eventually they did and they all moved into the castle's large ballroom where dancing was had and refreshments were served. Mytho and Rue were seated at a long table with their wedding party lined up on either side, men filed up next to Mytho and women next to Rue. This meant that while Duckie was lucky enough to sit next to Rue she wasn't any where close enough to talk with Fakir, Rue was far too distracted by Mytho to keep up much of a conversation and Duckie didn't know the girl next to her at all. It didn't help that the girl seemed in awe of Duckie for some reason and kept referring to her as "your highness" despite the fact that she had insisted she wasn't royalty of any kind at all. She sighed and held up her pendant, fiddling with it, a habit she had picked up ever since becoming a girl again. There was just something so special about this one.

Rue looked up then, and noticed her looking intently at the blood red jewel. "That's a lovely gem, is it what keeps you a girl?"

"Huh? Oh yes, it's what turned me back into a girl, Fakir gave it to me." Duckie beamed happily at Rue, she would never take being a girl for granted.

"It's lovely," Rue cooed as she looked at the gem. "What kind of stone is that? It seems very familiar." The raven haired girl had a strange expression as she asked the question, Duckie couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"I'm not really sure, Fakir never told me." Duckie rubbed her head in embarrassment, she didn't want to admit that she had never thought to ask.

"It looks an awful lot like your old pendant." The expression on Rue's face became more intense though it was also guarded so Duckie still couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to say, though she thought she saw merriment dancing in her friend's ruby eyes.

"I suppose it does…" Duckie trailed off.

"Maybe it's made of the same kind of jewel as Tutu's pendant was. Remind me, what was the first jewel again?"

"What?" Duckie was nearly flabbergasted, there's no way Rue could have forgotten that! "It was one of Mytho's Heart Shards." Duckie looked at Rue questioningly, she didn't respond though, only kept looking at her friend with an intense gaze. "You think this is a Heart Shard?" Duckie looked down at her gem, then back at Rue.

"It's possible, I'm not the one who gave you that pendant though so I don't really know." Rue stood up and took Mytho's Hand, "It's time for the couple's 'first dance' together." Duckie watched as the two left the table and walked out onto the dance floor, now clear of dancers. The strawberry blond, however, simply stayed in her seat and looked down at her pendant with new wonder.

"If this is a Heart Shard… **whose** Heart Shard is it?" She got up and hurried out of the library, she knew exactly who to ask and he had better give her a straight answer!

* * *

"Fakir! Fakir I need to talk to you." Duckie had waited until later in the evening to talk with Fakir, the party was starting to wind down and she had noticed him step outside for a breath of fresh air. She had quietly followed him and now they were standing together on a terrace hedged in by shrubbery. "Is this jewel a Heart Shard?" She held up the pendant to Fakir as she asked the question, he looked vaguely shocked and a little worried.

"Why would you think that?"

"Answer my question, what is this jewel made of?"

"It's… just a ruby."

"Liar." Duckie was glaring at him now, she wasn't going to let him get away with whatever it was he was trying to get away with.

"Yes, it's a Heart Shard. It was the only way I could think of to turn you into a human again!" Fakir replied angrily, he didn't like the way Duckie was trying to corner him into a confession.

"**Whose** Heart Shard is it?"

"What?" Fakir was certainly not expecting that question.

"Whose heart did the Shard come from?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Why won't you tell me?"

"My heart, okay? It came from my heart!" Since the argument had become a full on shouting contest and Fakir had practically yelled that at the top of his lungs, he turned a shade of red that Duckie hadn't seen before, even while Uzura was throwing water on her every chance the little puppet got. Fakir took a deep breath and calmly repeated, "It's a piece of my heart. We couldn't use your heart and I wasn't willing to ask anyone else to do such a thing so I used my heart."

"But… how did you…?"

"I contacted Mytho and explained the situation."

"But someone who's missing a part of his heart-"

"It's not the same." Fakir cut off before Duckie could finish. "Mytho shattered his heart to seal away the Raven, I took out apiece specifically to make a pendant for you. It's only one piece and since I willingly gave it to you it hasn't done anything to me."

"That's not entirely true, You've turned back into the controlling jerk you were before Mytho got his heart back." Duckie looked up at Fakir with such sad, worried eyes.

"That was just at first, I'm not that way anymore. It… took a little getting used to."

Duckie thought back to how he had been acting over the last few weeks and did have to admit that he had gone back to normal, "I suppose that's true, you haven't been a prick lately…" Fakir turned and scowled out into the moonlit garden, not trusting himself to say anything right then and feeling a little hurt over Duckie calling him names. Duckie simply stared back down at the pendant in her hands, turning over everything she had just learned. "So Fakir, which piece is it?"

"What?" Fakir started and stared at Duckie, he wasn't expecting that question either.

"Which piece did you use to make the pendant? Mytho's was hope and it was shaped like an egg when I wasn't Tutu, but this one is a circle. And every Heart Shard was an emotion of some kind, so which one is this?" Fakir was turning red again.

"I don't really know, Mytho's the one who carved it out." Fakir replied flippantly as he stared off into the distance.

"You're lying again, I can tell." Duckie smirked as Fakir turned even redder, the blush spreading even to his ears.

"Does it really matter which piece it is?" Fakir asked a little desperately.

"Not really, but I want to know. Please tell me Fakir!" Duckie looked up at him with her huge innocent eyes all a sparkle with the threat of tears. Fakir sighed in defeat.

"It's… it's Love." It was Duckie's turn to stop short and turn red.

"L-love? You gave me your… Love?" Fakir had looked away when he said it and hadn't looked back up yet.

"Yes."

"I… I… I have to go." Duckie turned and ran back into the ballroom, completely missing the look of hurt on Fakir's face as she ran away.

* * *

Duckie had wanted to sit by herself and think quietly for a little while but her being part of a wedding party in the middle of the reception wasn't going to allow for that. The close to the reception was about to start, namely Rue throwing her bouquet as the couple left the party for their own quarters. The couple had opted out of throwing the garter as well as Rue proclaimed it quite "unseemly" and though she was sweet and good natured most of the time she was becoming known for being quite stubborn once she put her foot down. "They will simply have to be content with just the bouquet," She had declared when asked about it.

Duckie and the rest of the eligible girls were gathered in a large group as Rue prepared to throw her flowers, though she was quite distracted by her pendant and wasn't paying the least attention. Rue threw her bouquet and watched as it sailed gaily towards the throng eager women. It was quickly snatched out of the air once it was within someone's range and a brief tussle occurred, one of the bride's maids came out victorious and waved the bouquet around triumphantly, followed by a polite applause from the other women, Duckie was oblivious to the whole thing.

With that Rue took Mytho's hand and was escorted out of the ballroom with many well wishes from the joyful crowd, though once they were out of earshot Rue confided sadly to Mytho, "I do wish Duckie would have caught the bouquet."

* * *

"You told her, didn't you?" Fakir was in a bit of a foul mood that morning, he had hardly slept at all the previous night and was anxious to have a talk with Rue. He had pounced on the couple as soon as they sat down to breakfast, Duckie hadn't woken up yet.

"Told who what?" Mytho smiled as he sipped his morning tea.

"Rue told Duckie about the pendant," Fakir ground out angrily.

"I may have hinted at it but I didn't outright tell her." Rue simply smirked as she replied to Fakir's accusation.

"Why?"

"Because you were too much of a coward to tell her yourself." Rue put down her cup hard enough to cause the delicate china to clink quite loudly in the suddenly quiet room. Mytho had decided to simply be quiet and let them argue by themselves. "You spent nearly a year agonizing over a way to turn Duckie back into a girl, you searched long and hard to find a solution, you wrote nothing else in your letters, you've spent the last week following her around like a puppy, and for heaven's sake you cut out a piece of your own Heart to make that pendant for her. You haven't said anything to her about it either, so since you weren't going to say anything at all and Duckie seems too accepting of the world around her I decided to ask her a question or two to push her onto the right train of thought." Rue was smirking by the end of his speech, she would admit later that she rather enjoyed meddling in Fakir's affairs.

"You're just as conniving as Drosselmeyer himself." Rue just smirked all the more at Fakir's comment and sipped her tea.

"A story left hanging in the middle with no end in sight is a terribly dangerous thing, you know that from firsthand experience."

"Don't try to make this sound altruistic." Fakir left then, slamming the door behind him. Rue and Mytho simply went back to their breakfast as they discussed where they thought events would lead.

* * *

That day was very awkward for Duckie, she didn't know what to say to Fakir after his confession. She avoided him all day in the castle as they recovered from partying too hard the night before and started preparing to leave for Gold Crown the next day. She alternated between spending time with Rue and Mytho, walking in the gardens, and hiding in her room for meals. She spent a great deal of time staring blankly into the distance or gazing intently down at her jewel. It wasn't until the next day when they were getting ready to leave that she actually saw Fakir again. She blushed and uncomfortably greeted him as he tried to look everywhere but at her. That was nothing compared to the awkward pause as the smaller carriage was brought around and the royal couple began their farewells.

"You're not coming with us?" Duckie's face paled, making every freckle stand out in stark contrast.

"We can't, there's too much to do that got put off because of the ceremony. We're King and Queen now, you know!" The two giggled slightly at each other as Fakir's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'll miss you both!" Tears sprung into Duckie's eyes and she flung herself into Rue's arms, "Promise you'll keep writing!"

"Of course we will, you're my dearest friend in the whole world." Duckie nodded as Rue wiped the tears from her cheeks, Mytho and Fakir had a much more subdued though equally heartfelt goodbye.

Fakir and Duckie were silent most of the way back to Gold Crown, neither really knowing what to say after everything that had happened. "We can't go on avoiding each other like this." It was Fakir who finally broke the silence.

"I know it's just… awkward right now, I don't know what to say to you." Duckie fiddled with her skirt hem as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Why do we have to say anything? We could just go back to the way things were."

"We can't! It's too late for that. I can't just forget what this pendant is, what it means." Duckie looked at Fakir tearfully and squeezed her blood red pendant tightly, "All we can do is keep going forward. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run away from you." Fakir simply nodded and they fell back into silence. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"That's because… you have always had eyes only for Mytho."

"Only for… Mytho? What do you mean?"

"Everything you did as Tutu and as a girl, even giving up being a girl… you did it all for Mytho. I felt like there was no room for me."

"You're the one who's a moron." Duckie glared at Fakir, "Who was it I told I was really a duck? Who was it who was able to convince me to go back to my true self? Whose wounds did I tend to and who did I spend the most time with? I may love Mytho, but it's been a long time since I fancied myself _in_ love with him! And you're also the one who worked so hard to turn me back into a girl… with your own Heart Shard. And this pendant… this pendant is precious to me, you know. My most treasured possession, I'll never let anyone else have it." Fakir stared at Duckie with wide eyes full of an emotion she was quite familiar with, she had worn it around her neck for a very long time after all. "It may be selfish of me to want it all to myself, but I want it anyways."

"Moron, it's fine that way." Fakir put an arm around her shoulders as he smiled at her, and then leaned down for their first kiss, but not their last.

And they lived happily ever after.

The End

* * *

First off a big shout out to Lunasphere for her amazing fic _This Pendent Heart _which is based on the same theme of Fakir giving Duckie his heart. I had the idea before I read hers so I was a little sad to see that it was already done but it's such a wonderful story that I can't be upset about it.

Ah, watching the series from beginning to end all over again really got my writing juices flowing, I wrote this incredibly quickly! I suppose what I was writing in each spot reflects the episode I was watching at the time. I was reminded all over again just what a jerk Fakir is in the beginning of the series and I suppose that's why he's the way he is here. Autor's a jerk too, he is so related to Drosselmeyer the way he only wants the power for the sake of controlling people. Pique and Lillie are a lot of fun to write, they're the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the series, I had to remind myself which name belonged to which! Watching the series over again also reminded me of a full fic I want to write that wouldn't be just a one shot but actually watching the series made me want to draw it instead… maybe. If I did it would take a lot of work but would probably be worth it. Then it reminded me of a new idea that bounced around my head briefly that I do rather want to write, but before I could I'd have to go find my copy of _Pride and Prejudice._ And of course there's all the talk about writing between Drosselmeyer, Fakir, and Autor which only reminds me how awesome this series is for writing fanfics if only for how meta it can get. I almost went for a meta ending but I felt that wouldn't allow for expansion if I felt like coming back to it.

And lastly: This is the last of the stories I had planned out, but it's not going to be the end of the one shots. I still have some nebulous ideas I need to work out before I can write them so it might be a long time again before I post the next one, but there will be more. Thanks for reading!

**Edit**: I had planned on just inserting on extra little scene as well as fixing a few little mistakes that were pointed out to me, somehow that evolved into completely changing the middle of the story! XD There are some parallels with one of my earlier chapters which really only show what some of my beliefs on the world they live in are. Mostly that people can travel into the story as easily as out of and that doing so means one has to do it like a fairy tale character would. There are rules to these things, you know!

Apologies to Autor fans for taking out the majority of his role, but once I started writing in the wedding scene I knew I had to change who it was who told Duckie about the Heart Shard. There really would be no reason for Autor to go to the wedding, especially if he hasn't gotten over Rue yet like a lot of fellow fans believe. I personally have no opinion on that matter as my focus always seems to be Fakhiru.

Egads, this thing is incredibly long now!


	10. The Duck Princess

**The Duck Princess**

Fakir didn't even know why he was doing this. It was bad enough that Autor had uncharacteristically decided to take an interest in his personal life, but then his relation had to go and be even weirder and try to meddle. Fakir would never understand what possessed Autor to talk Fakir into confessing to Duckie, he would understand even less why he had listened.

So there Fakir was, standing in the trees near Duckie's pond trying to give himself a mental pep talk while wondering just why he was doing this at all. Autor's constant needling played in his head, "You need to tell her how you feel. You'll regret it if you don't. Nothing will happen if you don't do anything anyway. She deserves to know."

Fakir gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "Damn Autor, how'd I let him talk me into this. If I don't tell her he won't ever shut up though." Resolved to just get it over with, Fakir took a deep breath and walked confidently out onto the dock. He didn't feel so resolved when Duckie swam up and happily greeted him, quacking at him excitedly and wagging her tail. The little yellow duck tilted her head to the side as if to ask him if something had happened. Fakir started to blush as he kneeled on the dock to get closer to Duckie. "I have something to tell you. We've been through a lot together and... well, I think it's important I tell you this." Fakir halted, unsure how to continue.

Duckie tilted her head even further to the side, curious about what Fakir was talking about. She spread her wings and fluttered onto the dock, then waddled into his lap. She quacked gently, encouraging him to continue.

Fakir swallowed and started again, "We went through a lot together, like I already said, and you were a big support. We couldn't have ended the story without you, Duckie, you were always so strong and did everything you could to make a happy ending possible. And I realized after Mytho's heart was tainted just how strong and brave you were, even if you were also a moron who couldn't pay attention to what was going on around you." Duckie glared at Fakir then, looking about ready to bite him for saying something so mean.

"So anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I realized that you had a lot of good qualities that I didn't notice at first and what a kind person you are and how strong you are and... and Duckie I..." Fakir's blush had spread and deepened as he talked, all the while Duckie looked up at him with such wide, naive eyes. Of course she wouldn't pick up what he was trying to say now when she couldn't figure out much more obvious things in the past.

"Duckie I, that is, I've fallen in l-l-l..." Fakir struggled to get the words out but couldn't seem to say them. Duckie wasn't helping, looking up at him with confusion all over her face as she clearly didn't understand what he was trying to say. Finally Fakir just decided to quit bothering with words and picked Duckie up, kissing her squarely on the beak.

To Fakir's surprise there was a bright flash of light and the hard beak became a pair of soft lips, Duckie became very heavy and shifted, falling out of his grasp though the her lips stayed connected to his. It took a minute for Fakir's mind to shake off the shock, he sat back and put his hands on the shoulder of the person next to him. Blue eyes, bright orange hair, freckles, "Duckie? But how?"

"I don't know, but isn't it wonderful?" Duckie smiled at him happily. That's when Fakir realized just what Duckie was wearing, or rather what she wasn't wearing. His face became a shade of red Duckie had never seen before and he turned around before Duckie had a chance to realize what was going on. "Wh-what?"

"You're not wearing anything."

"Whaaaaat?!" Duckie looked down, low and behold she was just as naked as she always was when transforming from a duck to a girl. She turned bright red herself and folded into herself, trying to cover up what she could with her thin arms. She was looking around frantically, hoping to find something to wear until she could get some proper clothes when she felt something warm fall on her shoulders. Fakir taken off his shirt and draped it over her.

"Put that on," He was looking away though she could still see the blush covering his face.

"But your birth mark, people will see it."

"What am I supposed to do? Leave you here alone and naked while I go get something for you to wear?"

"Well no, that doesn't seem right. But I can't wander around in just a shirt either!" Duckie was pulling his shirt over her head while she spoke, the fabric muffling her voice.

"We can go to the mill, if we go along the river we won't be going though any busy parts of town. We can figure out something more once we get there." Duckie nodded as she stood up, the shirt was big on her to the point of nearly falling off her shoulders, but it wasn't truly big enough to cover everything. It was better than nothing but not by much, she self consciously tried to hold the hem down while she gripped Fakir's arm with her other hand. Fakir continued to look away from Duckie out of modestly as he started leading her to the mill.

"Fakir... I like you too. I didn't realize that I had feelings for you until the Lake of Despair and by then it was too late to say anything. And I still had feelings for Mytho too so I was a little confused but we were in the middle of the battle with the Raven so I didn't really have time to think about it but I've realized since then that I'm happy for Mytho and Rue and that I like you more than I did Mytho." Duckie blushed as she made her own confession.

"You talk too much."

"Meany!"

And they lived quarrelsomely ever after.  
The End.

* * *

Duck Princess, it's like Frog Prince but with a duck princess instead. XB

Just something short and fluffy. This was going to be chapter eleven and I wasn't going to write it until after I posted chapter twelve but the idea would not leave me alone! So I wrote it, and then I realized that the other chapter is just such a monster (currently it's at 27 pages) that I'm going to need some extra time to work on it. Plus I had a sucky day at work the other day and wanted something cute to make me feel better. I hope this made you feel all warm and fuzzy!

Also: chapter nine was edited, a few small mistakes were fixed (thank you LunaSphere for pointing them out) and the ending was longer and more dramatic and was all around completely changed. If you feel like reading it over again and maybe want to tell me what you think of it I'd appreciate it.


	11. The Dark Prince

I do not own Princess Tutu, Bizenghast, or The Swan Princess. All characters and names are copyright to their respective owners. And this is a long chapter, so be warned.

* * *

**The Dark Prince**

_Once upon a time there was a Prince shrouded in Darkness. The Prince had grown up happy and loved, never knowing that he was living in Darkness until one day he fell in love, for you see the Princess of Light had stepped into the Darkness to save the White Prince. The Dark Prince loved the Light Princess and longed to possess her Light for his own. But the Prince was so shrouded in the Darkness that the Princess didn't even know of his existence; instead she was in love with the White Prince and chased after him even though her Destiny was unconnected to his. The Dark Prince watched as the Princess confessed her Love to the White Prince and disappeared in a speck of light in order to save him, but the White Prince cruelly chose another for his Princess. Though the Dark Prince grieved with the Light Princess over her lost love, he was relieved that she was not chosen for now he had a chance to keep her by his side make her his own._

Fakir grumbled as he got ready for the first day of school the next semester, he had not wanted to return after the long summer spent writing with Duckie by his side. He had argued loudly with Charon that without Mytho, Rue, or Duckie to go to school with he had no reason to continue his ballet studies. Charon had been upset with Fakir, insisting that the boy needed to finish his studies and not to use his friends as a flimsy excuse. It was Duckie who had convinced him to go back, dancing on webbed feet and miming with her wings to convey her feelings without words. "Just because I am not there does not mean you should give up your dancing. You're so beautiful when you dance, and you enjoy it too. Please Fakir, dance for me since I cannot."

Charon had watched Duckie dancing, not understanding what she was saying but able to see the effect she was having on his adoptive son. He put his hand over his heart as he looked up from Duckie to Fakir, "A man finishes what he started, Fakir. I'm not saying to go on and make a career out of ballet but at least graduate, for my sake."

Fakir couldn't continue arguing with them after that, so he had reluctantly agreed to continue his schooling. "Ready to go?" Fakir shouldered his schoolbag and looked expectantly towards Duckie, she simply nodded in response and motioned impatiently to the door. Fakir scooped her up with his free hand and headed out.

Fakir dropped Duckie off at her pond on his way to school, deciding that if she went with him it would only cause a lot of trouble even without a bunch of animals for students. Duckie quacked at Fakir and waggled her tail feathers, wishing him a good day in her own way.

School was very much what it was before Princess Tutu had first appeared, Fakir danced and everyone praised him, there were lessons and lectures and far more free time between classes than any school should have, and it seemed that all the girls whispered and giggled whenever he was near. A few of the braver ones had even come up to Fakir and asked if he had heard from Mytho and Rue since they left last semester, none of them seemed to know why the two favorites had left but they also didn't seem concerned about it. Fakir managed to answer that he had received a letter or two and they seemed to be doing well. None of them asked about Duckie.

Autor was still going to school as well, studying in the music program. "Fakir, I'm surprised to see you at school. Last time we spoke you seemed so certain that your days of ballet were over. And since the school has no literature department you had declared it "a waste of my time," as I recall."

"I had a change of heart, it happens from time to time. Who knows? I may decide I'd rather write ballets than fairy tales." They had fallen into an easy conversation after that, talking of doing research in the library and reading some of the great novelists, Autor even suggested starting a club with the only literature teacher in the whole school.

Or course this set off the gossip machine, Fakir had to fight to tune out the tittering girls whispering loudly about how lonely he must be without Mytho and how glad they were that he had made another friend. The ones who had heard Autor's comment about Fakir not coming back had run off shriek loudly about what a shame it would have been to their friends, but hadn't gone far enough away for Fakir not to hear them.

Finally the day was over, Fakir left as quickly as he could once the final lecture was over. He made a bee line for Duckie's pond where he was relieved to see that she was completely fine. "Hey there, Duckie. How was your day?" Duckie swam ashore where she greeted fakir with a pirouette and then mimed that she had had a quiet day, then mimed for him to talk. Fakir smiled as he picked Duckie up and then told her all about his day at school, telling her of Autor and all the gossip that wasn't about him.

A month passed that way, Fakir dropping Duckie off at the pond before school, a day of classes, practice, and sometimes after school activities for Fakir while Duckie spent her time floating serenely on the water or foraging for food, then Fakir picked up Duckie from the pond on his way home. One afternoon, after a little longer in the library than Fakir had intended, he went to the pond to pick Duckie up but she wasn't waiting for him. Fakir panicked then, running around the shore and calling her name, upon his second circuit of the pond he got a hold of himself and tried to calm down. "Okay Fakir, just because she's not here doesn't mean that she's in trouble. It's rather late and the sun is starting to go down pretty early, she probably went home ahead of me." Fakir smoothed out his uniform, then walked home as quickly as possible. Charon was waiting for him with dinner on the table.

"Fakir, you're home rather late." Charon looked up from the simple meal he was setting on the table to see Fakir looking around distractedly. "Where's Duckie?"

"She's not here?" Charon shook his head in response. "She wasn't at the pond when I got there either. I'm going to go check the school." Fakir dropped his books and ran out the door, trying to keep himself from panicking again. Duckie wasn't at the school either, though Author was and Fakir managed to rope him into looking for her as well. Fakir checked all of his usual haunts, then spread his search out into the town. Charon had joined the search as well, talking to other shop owners and people he knew in the hopes that one of them might have seen the little duck. Sadly everyone they talked to had not seen her and she wasn't anywhere to be found. Charon and Autor practically had to drag Fakir inside long after the rest of the town had gone to bed for the night, repeatedly telling him that he needed his rest if he was going to be able to keep searching for Duckie and they'd all have better luck when the sun came back up.

The next day Fakir didn't even bother thinking about going to classes, picking up his search where he had left off. Charon also closed down the shop for the day, searching throughout the town as well. At first Autor had protested, but eventually gave in and helped them look for Duckie as well. Sadly the second day's search was as fruitless as the first, but when he was dragged home this time Fakir had a plan. Instead of falling into bed he sat down at his desk, pulled out a quill and paper, and began to write.

* * *

There was the sound of metal scraping metal and the rustle of fabric then a bright, annoying light that went right through eyelids to pierce the brain. Eyes clenched tighter and head rolled to the side in an attempt to fight the waking world but sleep refused to come back. Then there was a voice, an insistent voice that kept jabbering away. Eventually eyes opened to inspect the world and find the source of the voice, a rather round and careworn woman's face greeted the eyes, seemingly haloed by the bright light. "Oh, I'm so glad to see Her Little Ladyship has finally woken up. Now let me just arrange your pillows so you can sit up all proper and comfortable like, there, and I'll go fetch Doctor." The woman did just as she said while she said it, quickly fluffing up the pillows and helping her young charge sit up before noisily moving out of the room.

The girl in the bed watched the woman leave with dull, disinterested eyes. She looked around the room, mostly white with pale pink and gold accents on everything she could see, and wondered dimly just where she was and how she got there. She didn't have long to wonder as the round woman returned shortly, followed by a slightly shorter, balding man. "… can't be helped but I'm just so relieved that she's woken up at all, Doctor." It seemed the woman had not stopped talking yet.

"It is a good sign. Now if you don't mind I have a patient to see to." The man, presumably the doctor, pushed the woman aside and sat next to the girl, setting a bag on the bed. "I see that you're awake now, how do you feel? Any pain?" He pulled some bits of shiny metal out of the bag and began inspecting the girl.

"My head hurts and I feel weak," the girl responded dully.

"Understandable, you had quite the nasty fall." What fall? The girl didn't remember falling. "Anything else? Blurred vision, twitching muscles, trouble thinking?"

"It does feel like I'm thinking through a fog right now, and I don't know where I am or how I got here." the girl looked up at him expectantly, hoping he would tell her what was going on.

"That's unusual. Tell me, do you recognize this woman?" The girl looked over to the side where the round woman stood with glistening eyes behind the doctor, she shook her head which caused her bangs to fall into her vision. For a moment she was distracted by their unusual color, reddish orange. "And can you tell me your name, who you are, where you were born, what your parents look like?" The girl scrunched up her face in thought for a moment, trying to bring up those memories but coming up blank.

"No, I can't remember anything at all." The woman had cried out then, looking completely horrified at the girl's nonchalant dismissal.

"It's me, Nanny! Surely Her Little Ladyship recognizes her beloved lady's maid!"

The doctor looked surprised himself, the girl had stated it so calmly and unworriedly. He quickly suppressed his surprise and continued with the exam, asking the girl more questions, shining a light in her eyes, listening to her heart and lungs, poking her and asking if it hurt. Eventually he finished and pulled the crying woman out of the room and had a discussion with her that the girl couldn't hear through the door. It didn't matter though, she saw some birds flying through the sky framed in the window and they were far more interesting than the doctor or strange woman.

Eventually the woman came back into the room with a servant who was carrying a tray with the most heavenly scent wafting off it. "Some food and rest will have Her Little Ladyship feeling much more herself, right? You've been unconscious for almost a whole day so I'm sure Her Little Ladyship must be quite hungry." The servant set the tray down on the nightstand, then was shooed out of the room by the woman. "Now, would Her Little Ladyship like some soup and bread?"

"Is… is that my name?" The girl scrunched up her eyebrows as she looked up at the woman.

"That's right, you're Her Little Ladyship. And I'm Nanny, your lady's maid. Doctor says the accident caused some head trauma but a little time to heal and you'll be right as rain. Now eat up, you need your strength to recover." Her Little Ladyship smiled up at Nanny and obediently let the woman feed her.

The following morning Nanny came into the room with much hustling and bustling, opening Her Little Ladyship's curtains with great force and moving about the room as a great tidying force. "And how are we feeling today, Her Little Ladyship?" Her Little Ladyship blinked and rubbed her eyes as Nanny started chattering away. "We have a wonderful surprise for you, yes we do! Your parents were so worried about you after they heard about the accident that they called off their trip and came home early. They'll be up to see you in a moment, I'm just to see that you're decent to be seen first. Now if you'll just sit up we can change you into a fresh gown." While she was still talking Nanny had pulled down the bed sheets and plucked Her Little Ladyship's sleeping gown off. The girl saw only a flash of pale skin and volumes her orange hair before Nanny pulled a fresh sleeping gown over the girl's head and tucked her back into the bed. "Now you just stay here, Doctor ordered plenty of bed rest until you've recovered. I'll go fetch your parents." Nanny bustled out of the room while Her Little Ladyship tried to keep her head from spinning. The woman had great energy if nothing else.

By the time Her Little Ladyship had recovered from all the sudden activity she heard the door click as it was opened, she looked up to see Nanny opening the door and standing to the side with head bowed. Her Little Ladyship sat up against the pillows and squeezed the bed sheets in anticipation as her parents entered, unable to help feeling nervous despite knowing how silly it was. They were her parents, not some strangers! Though without her memory they were both.

"My darling little girl, I've been so worried for you!" A tall, blond man with bright blue eyes rushed into the room and grasped her hands desperately. "When I heard what had happened I feared for the worst and my heart nearly stopped for fright. I'm so glad to see you safe and sound." Tears brimmed up in the man's eyes as he spoke, looking at her with such tender affection that Her Little Ladyship's heart just melted at the sight.

A woman with perfectly arranged red hair and blue-green eyes followed the man into the room, kneeling next to the bed and embracing Her Little Ladyship. "We were both very worried about you, beloved. It's quite the relief to see you doing so well." The woman's eyes became misty as well, though she was much more contained than the man who was crying into her bed sheets. Her Little Ladyship's own eyes glistened as she looked at the two strangers who were her parents.

"I… I'm so happy to see you, Mother… Father." Her voice trembled as she tried desperately to recognize the man and woman as her parents if only because she couldn't bear to see them so heart broken.

The pair looked at each other worriedly, then back at Her Little Ladyship. The woman's eyes softened as she took the girl's hands, "Doctor warned us that you had lost your memory and that you might not recognize us. It's not your fault, darling. You're not to blame for what happened or for losing your memory." They embraced again, enveloping Her Little Ladyship and she cried with them, touched by their unconditional love.

A whole week passed before Doctor finally gave leave for Her Little Ladyship permission to leave the bed. She thought she would go crazy in the meantime, she felt completely better the very same day her parents had come to visit her and was chomping at the bit to get out of her room. It wasn't that she didn't love her room, it was light and airy and just beautiful, like she was living in a cloud perpetually kissed by the dawn light. But she longed to go outside, to feel the sun upon her face and the grass beneath her feet. Finally the day had come, as soon as Doctor had proclaimed her fit to leave bed and left she had jumped out of bed and run around her room. She picked up everything she could and gently touched what she couldn't, inspecting every little detail. But what truly caught her attention was a vanity she had not noticed from the bed, tucked away in a corner with a wardrobe between the mirror and where she had been trapped for the last week. As if mesmerized Her Little Ladyship sat on the cushioned seat and stared intently at the mirror, inspecting every aspect of her face. Nanny watched the whole thing with bemusement before sauntering up to Her Little Ladyship before the mirror and teasing her, "Afraid that your face had changed from the accident?"

"Well no, that's not it…" Her Little Ladyship looked up at Nanny in confusion, unsure why she had been staring so intently not but a moment ago.

"You may think it unfortunate the accident didn't knock the freckles from your face but I am still rather fond of them. Come, we can take breakfast in the sitting room if you're tired of being stuck in this room."

Her Little Ladyship's face beamed at the thought of being allowed to even leave the room, "That would be wonderful!" Nanny simply chuckled as she led Her Little Ladyship to the door and opened it into another room. It matched the bedroom completely, right down to the same pattern engraved into the furniture, though it obviously served a different purpose. To one side of the room were chairs and a sofa arranged around a delicate glass table, on the other side was a writing desk with a book shelf full of texts and workbooks on either side of it. On each wall was a door, the one she was standing in now looking around her with wonder, a set of French doors to the left leading to a balcony, a closed door across from her, and a set of double doors to her right. While Her Little Ladyship looked around in wonder Nanny walked up to the set of double doors and opened one up, leaning out into the hallway to speak with someone there. She turned back into the room as a servant followed with the breakfast tray to find Her Little Ladyship in the midst of opening the French doors onto the balcony.

"Her Little Ladyship!" Nanny bustled over to her young charge with great speed, she pulled the doors closed and turned to scold Her Little Ladyship. "Now you know Doctor said that you're not strong enough to go outside yet." Her Little Ladyship pouted as she implored Nanny with her eyes to just let her out onto the balcony. "None of that, it's not lady-like to try and wheedle what you want out of one when you know it's wrong. Simply being out of bed will have to suffice until you are fully recovered. Now come eat your breakfast, Governess will be most displeased if you have not finished eating and dressed before it is time for your lessons."

"I'm to have lessons?" Her Little Ladyship looked up at Nanny happily as the woman led her over to the table where the servant had quietly set up her breakfast and then bowed before leaving.

"Of course, Governess is upset that you couldn't have them all week and is eager to start again. She fears that your memory loss may put you even further behind. Though you seem to be doing so well that I don't think you'll have a problem with that." Her Little Ladyship beamed as Nanny talked, she certainly easily recognized the people around her now and felt that with every story one of them had to tell of her life before the accident that she was remembering more, though she couldn't be entirely sure if she was actually remembering or just hearing stories and thinking it was memory.

She didn't have time to dwell on that thought as the door was opened suddenly and a voice called, "His Lord and Ladyship." In walked Her Little Ladyship's parents, both looking quite pleased to see her out of bed.

"Mother, Father! Come and eat with us, it'll be so nice to have breakfast together." Her Little Ladyship motioned to the table which was overflowing with fruit and toast.

"How charming, acting as a little hostess. You're just so precious." Father sat next to her and pulled her into one of his bear hugs. Her Little Ladyship smiled as she returned Father's embrace.

"It really is sweet of you, darling, but we've already eaten. We're just so excited that you're finally well enough to be out of bed." Mother sat on Her Little Ladyship's other side and joined the hug. "Doctor tells us that you're doing very well and should be completely recovered soon, then we can put this whole ordeal behind us. In the mean time I've started planning for a ball to celebrate your being well again. Won't that be wonderful?"

Her Little Ladyship smiled up at Mother, "That sounds like a lot of fun! Will I get to dance?"

"Of course, what would be the point of a ball without dancing?" Father beamed at her as he ruffled her hair, "You're so silly sometimes."

"It'll be held in one month and I've already sent out the invitations, Queen Mother has even sent back her RSVP." Mother was all coy and smirks as she nudged Her Little Ladyship playfully.

"Oh wow, a queen is going to come to our ball? That's so very exciting!" Her Little Ladyship beamed up at Mother, though the woman looked surprised and saddened by her daughter's reaction, glancing over at Father.

"Yes, that is very exciting," Father began, "But I think your mother is more excited about Queen Mother's son: Prince Derek."

"He has quite the crush on you, darling!" Mother touched Her Little Ladyship's hand quite proudly, "He has been most worried about you ever since he was informed of the accident."

Father coughed quietly as if trying to hold in something he knew would get him in trouble. "Yes well, he is the utmost gentleman and will be welcome at the ball." Father didn't look like he meant it at all.

Mother giggled, "Father is just being protective of his only daughter, don't mind him."

"Her Little Ladyship is too young for such attentions yet, the Prince would do well to keep his crushes to himself for a couple more years, at least!" Her Little Ladyship watched them go back and forth in that manner for quite some time, feeling more and more left out as they casually discussed a young man she was supposed to have known since she was a small child but couldn't remember even what color his hair was. "But as wonderful as this has been we must be going now. We shall join you for dinner this evening, precious."

"Oh yes, of course!" Her Little Ladyship rose with her parents to bid them good day as they stood to leave, hugging them both before they existed the room. "Nanny?" Her Little Ladyship looked around, just then realizing that the usually boisterous woman had stood quietly in the background with head bowed while her parents had been in the room.

"Her Little Ladyship wants to know about the Prince?" Her Little Ladyship nodded her head guiltily while Nanny chuckled. "It will have to be quick, Governess will be here soon and you're not yet dressed. Come into the bedroom and I'll tell you about him while we dress you." Nanny ushered Her Little Ladyship back into the bedroom as she spoke. "What did you want to know first?"

"I suppose… I want to know what he looks like." Nanny began pulling an outfit from the wardrobe and laying it out on the bed as Her Little Ladyship spoke.

"Oh, he's quite handsome! All the maidens in the kingdom just swoon at the sight of him, even some of us who aren't so maidenly anymore." Nanny blushed slightly as she fell into a reverie, but quickly snapped herself out of it. "Now raise your arms so I can get that sleeping gown off you, yes that's right. Now where was I? Oh yes, his looks. To start with Prince Derek is only a few years your senior, still far too young to take over his father's kingdom, may his soul rest in peace. He has the most luscious dark hair, from his late father, and his mother's dark eyes, quite striking against his pale skin. Now turn around so I can fasten up the back of your dress, there's a good girl. What else is there to say, he's about a head taller than Her Little Ladyship, with broad shoulders and he's very strong. I hear he trains hard every day to learn sword fighting and horseback riding as well as the more cultured arts like poetry and dancing. Now sit here so I can put your hair into a plait, I'm sure you look forward to the day you can first put it up and wear long dresses like your mother. Let's see… was there anything else you wanted to know about Prince Derek?"

Her Little Ladyship was stripped, dressed, and had her hair put into one long braid while Nanny had talked nonstop, though she was only too happy to let the woman babble as she tried to absorb all the information. Dark hair and eyes? It did sound familiar, were his eyes a dark shade of green perhaps? "I think that should about do it for now. But is he kind? Is he proud? Is he a good prince?"

"Oh, Prince Derek is all goodness and light. He is kind and gentle, he takes others into consideration and is learning to rule the kingdom with wisdom and grace. Why I even knew his nanny and she told me that she never heard a cross word from him when he was a child, and that he was always obedient and well behaved. Now we really haven't time for any more, I can hear Governess in the sitting room grousing about how late we are. Off we go." And with that Nanny ushered Her Little Ladyship back into the sitting room where a rather severe looking woman was waiting for them impatiently.

A month had come and gone, the day of the much awaited for ball had finally arrived. Her Little Ladyship looked forward to a day of getting dressed up and happily chatting about the night to come but instead found herself in one of her family's sitting rooms, the rugs and furniture pushed to the side as one of the servants played a simple tune on the pianoforte and another stood in as her partner. "Quick, quick, sloooow. Quick, quick, sloooow. How do you expect to dance at the ball tonight when you can barely do the basic steps? I know you had at least that down well enough before the accident, I can't believe we had to start all over again from the beginning!"

Her Little Ladyship gave an embarrassed grin as Governess went into the same rant she always had since starting Her Little Ladyship's lessons back up, but Her Little Ladyship knew she was just upset that Mother had given instructions for Governess to focus solely on her dancing until after the ball and Governess felt that learning to read and write was more important. "You shouldn't be so hard on Her Little Ladyship, it's not her fault the accident addled her memories so badly!" Oh Nanny, always so quick to defend her beloved young mistress.

"It's no matter, just trust in your partner and let him lead. If you can do that you should be able to dance decently." Her Little Ladyship looked down at her feet for a moment, then back up at Governess. "In other words: don't try to count in your head or do your own thing, just clear your thoughts and keep your frame up. Let's start this from the top." Her Little Ladyship nodded as she took first position again, letting the young man start taking her through the basic steps once more. For several measures this worked out rather well, then he tried to lead her through a spin and she faltered, unsure what to do, and ended up falling over.

"Ooww! That hurt." Her Little Ladyship sat in a rumpled heap on the ground, still tightly grasping the hand of the servant who had been her leader with him leaning awkwardly over her. "At least I didn't take him down with me this time."

Before Governess had a chance to blow up at her student yet again the door burst open as a servant rushed in, "A carriage has just arrived, it has the royal crest on it!"

"What? But it's still morning, none of the guests are to be here until this evening! The Prince can't have arrived yet!"

"You want to tell the Prince what he can and can't do?" Nanny hesitated for a moment, then turned to Her Little Ladyship.

"You're not fit to be seen and we must greet his majesty shortly! Come quickly." Nanny grabbed Her Little Ladyship's hand and dragged her up to her room where much fuss was made about putting Her Little Ladyship into a proper dress and doing her hair just right. Before Her Little Ladyship had a chance to recover she was dragged back down to the front room where her parents were waiting for her outside of the door. Nanny was in such a rush that when she suddenly halted Her Little Ladyship fell flat on her face from the force.

"Darling, are you all right?" Mother kneeled down with Nanny on the other side, both afraid to see what damage had been done. Her Little Ladyship sat up, holding her nose.

"I'm fine, just a little trip." They both tutted and petted her for a moment, worried that the fall would show on her face but relieved to see the redness to her nose quickly fading.

"Now then, let us go greet our guests. We mustn't keep royalty waiting!" Mother happily took Her Little Ladyship's hand as she helped her up, Father standing to the side in bemusement through the whole production. With a nod from Father the servants opened the door and the trio walked in. Mother immediately went up to a woman sitting on the far side of the room and took her hands.

"Queen Mother, so good to see you again."

"Always a pleasure Her Ladyship, you have such a charming home!" The thin woman smiled back at Mother cordially though she didn't stand. Her Little Ladyship found herself fascinated with the woman's rather tall up do and the way her gray hair swayed back and forth. "And it's so good to see Her Little Ladyship doing so well." Queen Mother turned to smile happily at her. Her Little Ladyship was so busy wondering how the little gold crown pinned to Queen Mother's hair didn't fall out that she quite forgot her manners until Father's hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

Her Little Ladyship blushed in embarrassment and quickly curtsied her greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, er… well, I mean… meet you again." Her blush only deepened as she realized how rude it would be to introduce yourself to someone you supposedly had met before. "I'm sorry, I haven't quite got all my memory back though Doctor says I'm making good progress and I might not ever get all my memory back, especially the memories from the accident, but I'm remembering a lot more all the time and seeing familiar people helps so I'm sure I'll remember you quickly since you're here now and and… I'm so sorry!" Her Little Ladyship bowed at the waist in apology after she had finished babbling to Queen Mother. Father chuckled, fully amused by his daughter's antics while Mother simply groaned, horrified that she had yet to break her daughter of her habit.

"Her Little Ladyship, stand up straight! We already talked about this!"

"Oh yes, ladies don't bow, they curtsy." Her Little Ladyship quickly stood straight as a rod, then curtsied once again. Unable to keep it in any longer Queen Mother began to giggle quite madly with a hand over her mouth and merriment dancing in her eyes. Her Little Ladyship relaxed a little and smiled at the older woman, at least she was not angry with her awkwardness.

"Delightful as always, Her Little Ladyship is a breath of fresh air when everyone else in court is stuffy as an old chair. Derek, I'm sure the journey has quite tired you out. Why don't you take a refreshing turn in the garden with Her Little Ladyship?" Queen Mother turned to look a little behind her to a boy that Her Little Ladyship had not noticed earlier while Mother had been fussing over Queen Mother.

"I think that's a splendid idea, darling, why don't you take him down the walk on the north side of the house? It's lovely this time of the year." Mother happily sat next to Queen Mother as Prince Derek walked up to Her Little Ladyship and bowed politely. Father looked ready to protest but was getting such glares from Mother that he simply cleared his throat and sat across from the women as they began chatting happily.

"Yes uhm… of course!" Her Little Ladyship curtsied to Prince Derek before leading him to the doors. "Right this way." Once outside Her Little Ladyship tried to calm down, shooting inquisitive glances at the Prince because she had been too flustered to get a good look at him while in the house. He had dark clothing, black and violet with gold embroidering along the outer seams with a crest on his right breast: a black swan rampant with a gold crown over a violet field. He was indeed a whole head taller than her, with curly hair cropped close to his head and his skin was just as pale and creamy as Nanny had said. On the next glance she got a good look at his eyes, so dark they looked black as his hair, because he was looking at her too. Her Little Ladyship blushed and looked away.

"Have you forgotten me as well as my mother?"

Her Little Ladyship's face paled, his voice had sounded so sad as he asked her that she didn't have the heart to tell him. "I couldn't even remember my parents' faces," She managed as a rather downhearted reply.

"It must have been quite the ordeal for you, waking up in a strange place surrounded by unfamiliar faces without even knowing your own name." He gently took her hand and tried to look into her face though she was looking down.

"It was strange, but I was very calm. I think I was still in shock. I'm sorry I don't remember you! I really want to!" Her Little Ladyship looked up at the Prince with tears in her eyes, truly feeling horrible for forgetting him.

"Hush now, it's okay. No one blames you for what happened, it wasn't your fault the accident took your memories. It doesn't matter if you can't remember me right now, we can get to know each other all over again and build new memories. Like this lovely walk right now, or the ball tonight." He smiled down at her and put a hand to her face, Her Little Ladyship relaxed a little and smiled gently at him.

"Yes, all we can do is keep moving forward. The ball tonight will be a lot of fun!" She beamed up at him happily as they began walking again.

"So, am I what you expected?" The Prince smirked at her as he asked the question, causing her to blush in embarrassment again.

"Oh well, you know, I had been told what you looked like so I wasn't expecting a fair haired Prince or anything." She didn't have the heart to tell him that for some reason she had expected him to look differently despite how perfectly he matched everyone's description. Not once had anyone told her that he had forest green eyes or held his hair back in a low ponytail but for some reason that's what she had expected.

"Please, just call me Derek. We are friends after all."

"All right, Derek." Her Little Ladyship smiled brightly as they talked about nothing and wandered through her favorite garden. She was feeling very happy when they returned to the house proper, both ready for lunch after wandering around outside in the sun for half the morning.

"It's just that she hasn't been the same since the accident. You saw her, our daughter used to be graceful and charming. She may still be kind and gentle but she has no poise, no elegance." Her Little Ladyship looked down at her feet just outside of the room her parents and Queen Mother were currently sitting in. It seems they had started discussing her condition while she and Derek were out. The Prince was frowning mightily, he seemed upset that they were talking about her so.

"Pardon me, I should be going. There's the uh… ball. Yes, the ball, I should go start preparing for it. So much to do, you know. I had a very nice walk, Prince Derek." Her Little Ladyship quickly gave an awkward curtsy before turning and running down the hallway. Derek clenched his fists, then straightened out his clothing before entering the room, this simply would not do.

Her Little Ladyship ran into her sitting room, collapsing onto one of her chairs and tried to scrub the tears from her face. Nanny simply came in and kneeled next to the chair, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping Her Little Ladyship's face dry. "There now, what has upset Her Little Ladyship so?"

"Am I really that different from what I was before? Am I really so bad off now?" Nanny looked quite hurt and took Her Little Ladyship's hands.

"Now who says that? You're still the same sweet, caring girl I've known since birth."

"Mother and Father were talking with Queen Mother. They were saying that before the accident I was graceful and elegant but now I'm all bumbling and awkward. I've heard them talk to Doctor sometimes too, that they fear more than my memories were addled and that my mind may be damaged. Is it really that bad?"

Nanny just continued to wipe the tears that were flowing down her young mistress's face. "Yes, you were more graceful before but it took a lot of practice and training to get there. I'm sure that you can get your memories back and be graceful again with enough practice, don't let their worries affect you so. Cheer up, you can't go to the ball with your face all red and puffy!"

Her Little Ladyship gave Nanny a watery smile, "Thank you Nanny. You're always so good and kind to me."

Nanny simply smiled at her young charge and continued to comfort her, Her Little Ladyship couldn't attend the ball looking such a wreck after all.

Later that night the ball was held, it was a dazzling affair with wonderful dancing to wonderful music. Or at least it was supposed to be, Her Little Ladyship stood in a dark corner of the ballroom, half hiding behind a curtain as she burned with embarrassment. The afternoon had been so pleasant after lunch, how did it come to this? After Nanny had calmed her down and seen that Her Little Ladyship was fed they had an impromptu dance practice with some coaching from Nanny that had actually had Her Little Ladyship dancing well. The pair waltzed grandly up and down her room before Nanny ended the dance with an underarm turn and a grand flair, Her Little Ladyship had been too busy enjoying herself to trip over her feet and was quite pleased with the result. So when the ball had started and Her Little Ladyship had stood up with Derek she hadn't felt half so nervous she had during practice that morning.

"It's all this stupid mask's fault." Her Little Ladyship plucked unhappily at the white gilt mask weighed down with tiny diamonds and large white feathers that was fastened to her face. Some time during the planning Mother had thought it would such fun to have a Masque and had declared that Her Little Ladyship would be a swan. The ball gown and mask she had been given were both made of the purest white clothe and were covered with the same tiny diamonds and huge white feathers, they only made her skin itch and weighed down the mask to the point of slipping down her face. If she hadn't been wearing the mask it wouldn't have kept falling and she wouldn't have kept pushing it back up and she wouldn't have accidentally stomped on Derek's foot, in high heels no less. Her Little Ladyship cringed as she remembered the chaos that had ensued, Derek fell over right into a couple that was minding their own business near them, which in turn cause another couple dancing purposefully across the dance floor to trip over the other couple, and the catastrophic effect simply spread like dominoes from there. The dancers who saw it coming and tried to get out of the way only crashed into less observant dancers right behind them, a few had even taken out some of the guests who were socializing on the side lines with wine in hand. There Her Little Ladyship had stood in the center of it all completely unscathed while practically every person in the ballroom had taken some kind of damage, be it bruised elbows or stained costumes. The shame still burned on her face as she remembered Queen Mother fussing over her fallen son as he was rushed out of the ballroom to have his foot and various bruises and scrapes sustained in the disaster that had followed cared for. Her parents were right, there was something wrong with her.

"Won't you dance with me?" Her Little Ladyship looked up at the unfamiliar face, surprised that someone would dare ask her after what had happened.

"What, me?"

"Yes, you. There's no one else here." The young man stood before her with hand outstretched, he was dressed as a knight in leather armor with a matching leather mask.

"Weren't you here for the first dance? I'm a terrible dancer who would probably just get you hurt if you tried. Why don't you ask someone else?"

"I saw, but it's to be expected when you wear something like this to dance." Before Her Little Ladyship had a chance to realize what the strange boy was doing he reached over and pulled her mask from her face. "Most people take off their masks to dance, especially if it's as ill fitting as this one is."

Her Little Ladyship angrily snatched it from his grasp, how dare he be so forward and so rude. "You're still wearing your mask."

The boy dressed as a knight reached up and removed his own mask, revealing forest green eyes. Her Little Ladyship was so struck by how familiar his eyes were that at first she didn't hear what he said next. "Are you pleased now?"

"I suppose so, but you're quite bold, you know. Touching a strange girl's face like that out of the blue and talking to me when we haven't even been introduced!" For some reason the knight only smiled, as if he enjoyed arguing with her.

"Now that we have our masks off, will you dance with me?" He held his hand out to her again expectantly.

"Why should I? I don't even know you and you've been quite rude. Besides, even without the mask I'm still a clumsy dancer. I'd rather just stay here and watch the others." She leaned against the wall and looked longingly at the dance floor, the other dancers seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"We don't have to go out there if you like, we can dance just as easily right here. And we're far enough away that if you fall there's no one to trip over you." Her Little Ladyship wondered at how he kept his hand stretched out in invitation, surely his shoulder must be hurting from the effort.

"Fine, one dance." Her Little Ladyship moved the mask to her left hand and put her arms up, ready to start dancing to the waltz that was playing. To her surprise the knight instead took her hand and pulled her forward, stretching her other arm out with his other hand and causing her to drop her mask in surprise. Almost out of instinct she stepped forward to keep from falling and threw her other leg out to keep balance. "What, what's this?"

"We're dancing, what else?" He continued to lead her in a strangely familiar dance, supporting her gently yet firmly as he lead her around the tiny space.

"Is this… ballet? But I don't know any ballet!" She squawked in protest as he lifted her up, spinning them both around.

"You're doing quite well for someone who doesn't know what she's doing," he teased right back. He had moved them out of the corner a little bit as he started leading her into a more complicated dance. The nearby dancers saw what was going on and stopped to watch, wondering when Her Little Ladyship had learned ballet and who the strange youth dancing with her was.

Her Little Ladyship smiled as the dance continued, she did know ballet! She was able to keep up with him far better than she had any of the ballroom dancing, though wearing the wrong shoes for it was a bit of a distraction. Before she had realized what had happened they had ended up in the center of the dance floor with the rest of the dancers in a big circle around them, stopped and staring. Even the music had stopped, the musicians unsure of what to play.

The more Her Little Ladyship danced the more familiar it became, like she had danced with this boy dressed as a knight before. It was like a veil was being lifted from her mind and a name came through it. "Fakir?" He stopped the dance then, one arm around her waist and the other stretched out elegantly behind him. "Fakir, it is you!"

"Duckie," he replied, he would have said more but Duckie nearly bowled him over with an excited hug.

"No! No I won't allow this!" Fakir and Duckie looked up to see Derek standing at the edge of the crowd, those nearest him were fighting to step away from the seething boy. "How dare you touch her, you commoner. Where are my guards?" Derek roared as he called for his personal bodyguards, ordering them to capture Fakir immediately.

"C'mon, we have to get out of here." Fakir took Duckie's hand and began running for the back of the room, the onlookers quickly split to either side of the room in a rushed attempt not to get involved in the fight. Fakir and Duckie were lucky, the Prince's personal guards had only been stationed around the regular entrances. Once the pair got to the far wall Fakir stopped before a tall window, from floor to ceiling, kicking out the glass before pulling Duckie through and out into the garden on the other side.

"What's going on? How did you get here? I'm not even entirely sure where here is!"

"Questions can wait, we're still have to get away from here or they'll catch us."

Duckie looked around, recognizing the garden they were in, then tugged on Fakir's hand. "This way." Stumbling over uneven grass in her heels, Duckie led Fakir through winding garden paths where tall planters and decorative trees would help hide them from the searching guards. Very soon they came to a copse of rather unkempt looking trees which Duckie ran through recklessly.

"Where are we going?" Fakir trailed along behind her, tightly holding onto her hand.

"This is the edge of the property, there was some sort of fight between Fath-" Duckie paused with the word half out of her mouth before continuing on, "between His Lordship and the neighbors. Now neither side bothers with the upkeep of this area, here's the wall dividing the two." Sure enough they came to a rather worn looking stone wall, complete with a rusted gate that was hanging slightly at a slant. Duckie pushed the gate, for a moment it seemed as if it wouldn't open but then it gave way and creaked open rather loudly. Fakir winced but went through and waited for Duckie to come through as well, helping her close it. Then Duckie took his hand again and gathered up her skirt with her other hand, leading him down a forest path that one had to know about to see. Once they were quite far from the gate Duckie slowed to a stop and sat down on the ground to catch her breath, Fakir did the same. "Is it time for questions now?"

"Only a few, we won't be safe until we're out of here altogether."

"So where is here in relation to Gold Crown Town?"

"We're inside a Story."

"What? Inside a Story? But how?"

"You were kidnapped, so I wrote a Story where I found you. It took a while and a lot of hunting but I found the Story you were stolen into and went in myself."

"Oh… I don't remember being kidnapped. Are all these people under a spell like in Gold Crown?"

"Yes, they're all under the control of the Story. It's an old one, one of the first that Drosselmeyer ever wrote. But it's about time we left, are you rested?"

"What? We can't just leave! All these people are under a spell and we have to help them! If this is Drosselmeyer's story it'll end in a tragedy!"

"Shhh, not so loud! Of course I know that, we won't be able to leave the Story until it has an ending. But I can't exactly write the ending out here in these woods without pen and paper. I brought some supplies with me, we just need to get to the road and I can lead us there." Duckie nodded and stood up, taking Fakir's hand again and leading him to the road. They walked this time, trying to keep quiet so as not to be caught. "How did you know about the wall and the gate or which direction to go anyway?"

"I've been living here for over a month, as soon as my pare- His Lord and Ladyship let me out of bed I ran all over the grounds and became familiar with it."

"So you remember your time here?"

"Of course, I may have been under a spell to keep me from remembering Gold Crown but that doesn't stop me from remembering everything that happened while I was under the spell." Fakir wasn't sure how to respond so they walked on in silence for quite some time, finally Duckie couldn't take it anymore and broke the silence, "I'm really glad you came for me. Thank you, Fakir." She smiled at him happily as she spoke.

"I'm just glad that you're all right." Fakir smiled back at her.

It was a long and dull journey that eventually led the pair back to where Fakir had been staying while trying to find Duckie within the Story, a humble stable where he worked as a stable hand with the horses within. They had both collapsed into the corner he was allowed to call his own, Duckie onto a cot and Fakir into a chair. While Duckie pulled the ruined shoes from her aching feet and protested that she shouldn't steal his bed Fakir dragged a satchel out from under the chair and pulled some clothing out of it. "Raetzel's old dress, Charon had found it and sent it with me. He sends his best regards, as does Autor."

"Thank you," Duckie meekly took the offered clothing and changed while Fakir turned the other way and made sure they were still alone. "What do we do with the ball gown?"

"I'm not sure, hide it for now." Fakir yawned, too drained from all the excitement to do more than sit back down in the plain, wooden chair and lean back.

"You should lay down, you're exhausted."

"You are too." Fakir smirked as Duckie tried to suppress a yawn, they were headed for another argument at this rate.

"I can't steal your bed, that's just wrong." Duckie frowned at him, refusing to go near the cot.

"There are other beds, I'll be fine." Fakir stood went across the small room to another cot tucked away in the far corner. "See? So just go to sleep, we'll figure the rest of this out in the morning." Fakir lay down on the other cot, Duckie simply lay down on the cot Fakir had left for her. It wasn't long until both of them were pulled into a deep sleep. One moment Duckie was just closing her eyes and the next there was a loud sound like someone banging on a door, there was yelling too but she couldn't make out what it was. She struggled to wake up, dully wondering what all the noise was about. Across the room she could see Fakir on his cot sit up suddenly and look around in a panic.

Before Duckie could ask him what was going on the room suddenly filled with people and the noise doubled. The shock of it seemed to wake Duckie up, she shot out of the bed and tried to fight through the horde of uniformed men to where they had roughly thrown Fakir to the floor and were now holding him down. "Fakir! Let him go!" The men next to Duckie held her back gently while another was pulling her torn and stained gown out from under her cot.

"My lady, calm down. You're safe now, we're here to rescue you from your kidnapper."

"What are you talking about? Fakir didn't kidnap me, he's my friend!" The men gave each other a worried look and Duckie thought she heard one say 'stock home something' but they wouldn't let her go.

"Her Little Ladyship should come outside now, your parents are very worried." The guards were careful not to hurt Duckie as they led her outside but they were quite insistent and wouldn't let her stay with Fakir like she wanted.

"That's not my name, my name is Duckie and Fakir is my friend. Why won't you listen to me?"

"Her Little Ladyship is not in her right mind." As they stepped outside Duckie looked over to where the voice came from, it was hard to tell if he was talking to her or about her, how did people know when their names made others refer to them in the third person?

"Prince Derek." Duckie stopped with a guard on each side just outside the stable door. Prince Derek stood next to one of his ornate carriages not even three feet from her.

"I'm so glad to see you are unharmed, though it's obvious that the fiend who kidnapped you has put you under some sort of spell."

"Fakir would never do anything like that, he's my friend!" Duckie cried desperately, trying to get Derek or the guards to believe her.

"You poor thing, we'll have to lift that nasty spell before returning you to your parents." Derek stepped forward, lifting his hand with index finger pointing at Duckie.

"I'm not under a spell at all," Duckie tried to step back but was trapped by the guards. "I was under a spell before but Fakir broke it," Duckie was going to say more but didn't have a chance as right then Derek touched her forehead. She immediately collapsed into the arms of the waiting guards, her head rolling to the side as her eyelids half closed and her jaw became slack. It was horrible, all Duckie could do was watch with unfocussed eyes as her supposed saviors dragged her friend off in chains while loading her into the prince's carriage.

* * *

Fakir stumbled as he was thrown into the cell, the thick wooden door was shut and locked behind him before he even had a chance to think about turning around. Not that he had thought about it, Fakir simply sank to the cold, hard, stone floor and dropped his head into his hands. "I failed. I had Duckie with me, I rescued her but before I could do anything at all they got her again. Now I'm locked up and they're probably putting her back under a spell and there's nothing I can do about it from down here. We're right back where we started, what was the point of coming here at all? What was the point?" Fakir would have wallowed in self pity for a while longer but he did remember what the point had been. With determination Fakir stood and started banging on the door. "Guard? You out there?"

The sound of something hard hitting the door forcefully was all the response Fakir got at first, but he kept knocking on the door and calling out. "What do you want?"

"I want to write a letter."

"No."

"Why not? I have the right to inform my family that I've been falsely imprisoned just as much as the guy in the next cell. Let me write a letter."

"Stop making all that fuss in there."

"All I want is a pen and some paper, what harm is it going to do?"

"No, now shut up."

"Let me write a letter!"

"And why should we?" This continued for quite some time, the guards finally gave in and gave Fakir some paper and a quill rather than his meal but Fakir was too eager to write to care. He had an ending to change.

* * *

It took quite some time for the spell on Duckie to wear off, it wasn't until long after they had arrived at the royal palace and she had been bathed and dressed she snapped out of it. Duckie wasn't sure what it was that had broken the spell, one moment she's just barely able to sit up while one of the maids was brushing her hair and crooning about how lucky she must feel to have been rescued so quickly and Duckie was thinking how decidedly **not** lucky she felt and the next it was like a weight had been lifted from her. She suddenly sat up, much to the maid's and her own surprise, and almost fell out of the chair she had been propped up in.

"Heavens you surprised me, Little Ladyship! It's good to see you doing so much better now, Prince Derek will be pleased to be informed of your recovery. Now why don't you just relax and we can have you all finished in time for afternoon tea.

Duckie sat back squarely in the chair as the maid directed, letting the maid continue to brush her hair and croon comforting things into her ear. No wait, this wasn't right! "I have to find Fakir!" Duckie stood up, knocking the chair back rather forcefully and stepped away from the maid.

"Whatever is the matter, Her Little Ladyship? Are you unwell?"

"No! That is… I need to speak with Prince Derek right away."

"Calm down, child. You'll see him shortly, we just need to finish putting your hair up and put a proper dress on you." The maid motioned to the chair Duckie had jumped out of as she held up the brush, Duckie just shook her head.

"I have to speak to Prince Derek right away, it's very urgent." The maid looked annoyed, then sighed and smiled gently at Duckie.

"I'm sure it was quite an ordeal you went through, perhaps you need to rest a little."

Duckie gritted her teeth and had to keep herself from doing something rash. "No, I don't need to rest. I need to see Prince Derek right now!" Duckie stamped her foot in frustration, "Why won't anyone listen to me?" She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest angrily. It was like dealing with Fakir before their truce all over again.

The maids looked quite shocked at Duckie's behavior, unsure how to deal with her. "Alright dear, I'll send one of the maids to fetch His Majesty Prince Derek. But in the mean time let us finish dressing you, we can't have him see you half dressed with your hair loose about your shoulders." Duckie looked down at the dressing gown they had her in, it covered more than her pajamas back in Gold Crown had and she had thought it was a full dress. They were going to put more on her? With a sigh of defeat she sat back in the chair and let the maid continue.

"Alright, but make it something quick. I really need to talk to Prince Derek right away."

Some twenty minutes and much fussing later Duckie was finally sitting in one of the sitting rooms. A servant had brought her to the room and told her that Derek would be along shortly and that she should wait there for him. She spent her time waiting by picking at the lace and ruffles on the needlessly heavy and frilly dress the maids had stuffed her in. She had given up on arguing with them as they didn't seem to hear or understand what she said, instead just letting them fuss and chatter over her until they finally let her go. "Is this what the people of Gold Crown were like? Is it what I was like? It's like they all have a Heart Shard the way Ebine did." Duckie heard the door open and stood quickly, her previous musings forgotten.

"Ah, Her Little Ladyship. You wanted to see me?" Derek walked into the room and greeted Duckie with open arms.

"My name isn't Her Little Ladyship, I'm not even sure if you could call that a name. But that's not important right now, my name is actually Duckie and I was under a spell to think I was Her Little Ladyship. I don't even know who she is or where but the real Her Little Ladyship is probably under a spell somewhere and even if she isn't I'm sure she misses her family and friends. Oh, and Fakir broke the spell, he's the one you dragged away, he didn't kidnap me. He's my friend who came to rescue me and take me back home to Gold Crown Town, which I'm not sure if you've heard of there but it's my home and I want to go back. So won't you please let us go?" Derek had looked shocked when Duckie first started her speech, growing paler and finally resigned as she continued talking.

"How do you remember all that?"

"What?" Duckie blinked as she looked up at the taller boy in confusion.

Derek stepped closer, "You shouldn't be able to remember an of that anymore."

Duckie took a step back from the approaching boy, "What do you mean? Are you the one who took my memory away?"

"How could my spell have failed?" Derek moved closer to Duckie, reaching out to grab hold of her.

"No, I don't want to be under a spell!" Duckie stumbled over the furniture as she moved away from Derek, circling around the room and getting a chair between herself and him.

Derek looked surprised and hurt as Duckie moved away from him. "Why are you running away from me, Princess? I'm just trying to help you."

"No, you're trying to make me forget everyone again. You'll probably hurt Fakir too, and you're the one who took me from Gold Crown in the first place, aren't you?"

Derek's face was crestfallen, his arms went limp as he looked about ready to cry. "Everything I do, every way I try to get closer to you and you only run further away from me. Why can't my feelings reach you, Princess Claire?" Before Duckie had a chance to do more than think how familiar those words sounded for some reason she was enveloped in a bright light. She put her hands in front of her face, trying to protect herself from whatever Derek would do next and to squint through the overpowering light.

As quickly as it came the light faded, leaving Duckie unharmed but confused. As she looked down she realized that she had transformed into Princess Tutu again, but it wasn't quite the same as when she was in Gold Crown. For one the Piece of Mytho's Heart wasn't around her neck anymore, and the tutu was now adorned with white feathers and intricate beading, the fairy wings on the back were also missing. "What? What happened? I'm Princess Tutu? It doesn't seem right… what happened to the tutu? Where'd the bow go? The shoes feel wrong too." Duckie winced as she looked down at her feet, now wearing toe shoes. How odd, as Princess Tutu she had never even noticed the toe shoes she always wore but for some reason right now they felt uncomfortable and foreign.

"Princess Claire," Duckie looked up at the sound of Derek's voice, forgetting that he was in the room at all. "Won't you dance with me?"

"What? But… I can't dance like this! It doesn't feel right and I can't dance en pointe." Derek ignored her protests and simply pulled her into a pas de deux.

"I don't understand, Claire, I've done everything for you. You were fading away in that town, trapped in that miserable form and wasting away from loneliness and sadness. I rescued you, took you away from all those people who used you only to throw you away and forget about you. I gave you a new home, loving parents, everything your heart could desire… what more could you want?"

"You did all this, put all these people under a spell, for me?" Duckie stumbled as she tried to keep up with Derek, he kept leading her in a dance more complicated than she could do and her shoes kept tripping her up.

"And then he had to come along and ruin it all, That coward who couldn't protect you even when he had vowed it. Isn't my love enough, Claire?"

"Who's Claire?"

"You are, don't you remember? Your real name was Princess Claire and no matter what I did you never looked at me. But Siegfried is gone now, he chose another; so choose me, Claire, choose me."

Duckie shook her head, "I'm not Claire, Derek. My name is Duckie, I'm just a little duck who borrowed Princess Tutu's power to save a prince, but I'm not the princess herself."

"You're wrong, you are Claire. I saw you, chasing after Siegfried with that same single minded determination, just like before when you… when you…"

"When she confessed and vanished in a flash of light?" Duckie asked gently, "Claire is gone, Derek. She's gone and I'm not her." Duckie held her hands over her heart, tears coming into her eyes as she told Derek the horrible truth.

"No, no you're Claire. You are, please just say you love me, Claire, just say you love me!" Duckie simply shook her head, tears coming into her eyes. "Please, Claire! Why won't you love me? Is there another?"

Duckie blushed and started, not sure how to respond. "Well, that is…"

"Has someone else captured your heart? Declared his undying love? Made an oath to forsake all others for your sake?" Duckie shook her head silently to Derek's questions. "I'm making that oath now, Claire. I love, I always have and I always will. Please just say that you love me."

"I can't because I do love Fakir."

Deep beneath the castle Fakir dropped the pen he was holding, leaving a trail of smeared ink on the freshly written page. "She… loves me?" His face was completely red, all the way to the tips of his ears. "But what about Mytho? I thought she still loved him!" Fakir sat in shock for a moment before remembering that it wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't write them a happy ending. He hurriedly picked up the pen and continued.

"You love… Fakir?" Derek's legs wobbled dangerously as he stared at Duckie. "That commoner? The coward who couldn't protect you?"

"I… I do. Fakir! I know you're writing this and know what's going on. I don't know when it happened and it took me way too long to realize but I do love you, I love you more than I ever did Mytho!" There was another blinding flash of light, Derek was blinded and knocked over by the force of it. The light spread out from Duckie, sweeping out until it had filled up the whole kingdom with light and warmth.

Fakir dropped his pen then, rushing over to the door and trying to open it desperately. He could hear the guards in the hallway outside shouting and running about in confusion, it seemed that the spell on everyone had been broken by Duckie's confession and he was desperate to see if she were alright. When the door didn't budge he ran back to the story and hurriedly scribbled a sentence, hearing the door unlock as he forcefully dotted the period, then rushing past the guard looking into the room in confusion before he could even utter a sound.

Fakir raced through the castle as he tried to find the room where Duckie and Derek had been. The sheer amount of servants running to and fro and getting in his way was enough to drive him mad, the fact that he only found more as he threw open door after door in his attempts to find Duckie. Finally he opened one door and found what he was looking for, laying in the middle of the room in a pile of pink fabric and white lace lay Duckie, still a girl. Fakir sagged against the door frame with relief, "Duckie. Are you alright?" The girl's face scrunched up as she started to move, trying to sit up.

"What happened? I'm not Tutu anymore? Fakir? You're safe!" Duckie beamed up at Fakir happily.

Fakir kneeled on the floor next to her and pulled her into a hug, "I was so afraid you'd disappear again."

"I was so afraid Derek had done something terrible to you." Duckie hugged Fakir back, too relieved to do anything else.

At his rival's name Fakir pulled out of the hug and looked around. "Where is he? We have some unfinished business." Fakir growled and looked around the room, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Duckie looked around herself, trying to think of where he was last time she saw him. "Ah, over there!" Duckie pointed across the room, sitting by itself near a wall was a single black feather. Fakir went over and picked it up, inspecting it closely. Duckie took a moment to untangle her legs from the voluminous underskirts before joining Fakir and looking at the feather over his shoulder. "Is it a raven's feather?"

"No…. it's not. I'm not sure what it is but I know it's not a raven's feather."

Curiously Duckie reached over and plucked it from Fakir's hand. "I think it belongs to a water bird, like a duck or a goose or…" She thought of the symbol she had seen on Derek's clothing and carriages, "a black swan."

Fakir nodded solemnly, "The black swan that fell in love with a white swan but couldn't get her to return his feelings."

"What do you think happened to him? Where did he go?"

"I don't know, but I hope he never comes back."

"I hope he's happy, I think he was really suffering and didn't deserve it." Duckie sighed and looked at the feather in her hands sadly.

"Moron, you always want everyone to be happy but never worry about your own." Fakir patted her head to console her.

"I think this counts as a happy ending if we can go home to Gold Crown now."

Fakir nodded, "Let's go home." And home they went, where they eventually had a surprisingly short conversation that wasn't nearly as awkward as one would expect that ended in what we shall call their happily ever after.

The end.

* * *

A/N Twenty four pages! It was more but I accidentally saved over this file when I meant to save over the back up that had the first 13 pages written. Fortunately that was untouched so re-writing the first half wasn't that big of a deal but the second half is a bit different than when I first wrote it. It's just as well, I was unhappy with it the first time.

Okay, now for my babbling! I don't normally open these one shots with a fairy tale but it seemed fitting for this one, consider it part of the experimentation. Since the staff were calling Fakir "the dark prince" and Mytho "the white prince" before they were given names I wanted to bring that into this story, even though the dark prince turned out to not be Fakir afterall. And while that was part of what inspired this fic I'd have to say one of the main inspirations was Kingdom of the Birds, if you've read it I'm sure you can see where that kicked in. Mostly it started out at the ball scene, it didn't make sense to me that Fakir would waltz with Ahiru, he would dance a pas de deux with her even if everyone else was dancing a waltz. And I really really wanted that scene to be when Ahiru got her memory back in KoB so I decided to do just that for mine.

And about the names, Her Little Ladyship was the name of a ghost in Bizenghast (I seem to have lost the volume she was in, I'm quite upset about this) and I liked the idea of titles for names inside a fairy tale (Mytho in story was referred to to as just "The Prince" and Lohengrin was just "The Knight" and so forth) so I wanted to continue that in this story. I wanted Derek to be different though, he's the one pulling the strings here and is thus the only one not under the spell. I chose Derek because I wanted to have a lot of Swan Lake in this and Derek is probably the most famous Prince notSiegfried from any version of Swan Lake anywhere. I also used Queen Uberta as a reference when describing the Queen Mother. I chose Claire for Princess Tutu's real name because I still don't get how the translators got Kraehe from Kureru.

I have taken ball room dancing so I can tell you that like ballet there are first, second, third, fourth, and fifth positions. I do believe they are even related but they are very different. Trying to dance with someone who doesn't know how is very frustrating and very hard, trying to dance stuff you don't know how is just as bad for me (I'm a terrible follower, but I pick up the leader's stuff very well so far). Derek chose ballroom dancing because he was trying to keep Ahiru's memories of Gold Crown suppressed for as long as possible, not just because I actually know the base steps and a few turns for several ballroom dances. Eh heh...


	12. Consequences

**Consequences**

It had been several weeks since visiting the Story for Mytho and Rue's wedding and life had settled back into the same rhythm as before. Fakir and Duckie still practiced together every morning before class, Duckie still hung out with her friends, Fakir still spent time in the library with Autor, and the two still bickered over pointless minutiae. But there was something about those weeks that Duckie couldn't put to words, they just… sparkled. Perhaps it was the fact that she and Fakir would hold hands as they walked together, or that she had started noticing the way he looked at her, or that they were starting to make more plans to spend time together. Though as Duckie reflected on it she realized it was probably the kisses they shared, mostly when no one was around because Fakir didn't like being gawked at. Duckie blushed and grinned like a loon as she walked to the library, happily alone in her own thoughts.

Or so she thought, "Well well, if it isn't little Duckie. I was hoping to see you today."

Duckie jumped and whipped her head towards the girl who had addressed her, nearly giving herself whiplash. "Oh uhm… hello," She replied happily, smiling at the girl she recognized from class, though she couldn't remember her name. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me what you did to capture Fakir?"

"Huh? Capture? I don't understand what you mean." Duckie looked at the other girl in confusion.

"I mean that for the longest time you declare that you have no interest in him at all and then all of a sudden you two become best of friends and now you're dating. What has a clutz like you who can barely do the basics done to deserve someone as handsome and cool as Fakir? I've loved him ever since I came to this school and you just sweep in snatch him from right under my nose!" Ducke stepped back as the other girl got louder and angrier with every word.

"I didn't do anything, I mean… I didn't snatch him at all!" The other girl glared at Duckie as she yelled back angrily though visibly frightened. Then the strange girl took a deep breath and tried to calm down, her next words were strangely quiet.

"Well, it's no matter what trick you pulled to get his attention, you'll stop seeing him immediately if you know what's good for you."

"What?" Duckie stared at the girl with wide eyes, not sure how to respond to her wild demand.

"That's right, you're going to step back and let someone more suited to him have a chance. And not only that… what's that?" The girl's eyes were drawn to Duckie's uniform where her hand was gripping Fakir's pendant tightly. "Let me see it." She grabbed Duckie's wrist tightly in one hand and pulled the gem out with her other, pulling the chain tight as she got a good look at the blood red jewel. "Was this a gift from the Wonderful Fakir? It doesn't suit you at all, I think I'll keep it for myself." Before Duckie could do more than gasp the audacious girl had given the pendant a sharp yank, breaking the delicate chain and pulling it away from Duckie altogether.

There was a brilliant flash of ruby light and the girl was left staring at a pile of clothes with something inside them pushing its way out. She gasp and stepped back, staring at the strange sight with wide eyes. Shortly a little yellow duck pushed its way out and looked up at her with large, angry, blue eyes. "Quack!"

"What? A duck? What's going on?" The duck glared at the girl before charging at her, going for the pendant still held in her hand. The girl jerked the pendant out of the duck's reach, batting away at her before running off. Duckie watched the girl leave, unsure what to do next. She looked back at her pile of clothes and then towards the library where she knew Fakir and Autor were currently doing some sort of research. She sighed dramatically and set about shoving her uniform under a conveniently close bush before spreading her wings taking to the skies, intent on reaching the library as quickly as possible. _Just like old times._

* * *

Fakir and Autor were sitting in the back of the second floor, heads huddled close as they stood over an old tome and discussed its literary merits quietly. It was one of the regular activities of the school's unofficial literature club, and since Autor was one of the student librarians they pretty much had free reign with the library and all inside it. They had just gotten into a hushed argument about the meaning of the fairy king mentioning church bells when Fakir suddenly clutched his chest and nearly fell over, leaning heavily on the desk for support and knocking the heavy book over. "Fakir! What's wrong, are you hurt?" Autor hovered over his relation, unsure what to do.

Fakir ground his teeth as he hissed, though he started to relax his grip on his shirt. "Something's happened to Duckie."

"What? Are you sure?" Fakir nodded as he stood up, straightening out his uniform.

"Something happened to her pendant, at least. We need to find her." Autor simply picked up the book the two had been reading and placed it back on the desk before walking with Fakir to the library's front doors.

"Do you even know where she is right now?"

"No, but I know she's not in here." The two walked purposely out of the library, Fakir leading the way to the ballet building. Not three yards from the library door the two suddenly stopped as they heard loud quacking, they looked up to see a small yellow duck heading directly towards them. Fakir held out his arms and Duckie neatly slowed and landed gracefully in them.

"Duckie? What happened, why are you a duck?" Fakir looked down at her incredulously as Duckie quacked loudly while waving her wings about wildly. She seemed quite irate and neither boy could figure out what she was going on about. "Slow down, I can't understand what you're saying." Duckie glared at Fakir meaningfully and Autor coughed rather loudly. "Okay, so I can't really understand you normally either but I can usually figure it out." Fakir set Ducke down in the middle of the pathway they were standing on, a couple passing students looking at them oddly before moving on. Duckie started miming, trying to explain that a jealous girl had stolen her pendant. "Do you know who she is? Where she went?" Duckie shook her head sadly at Fakir's questions. "Alright then, we'll just have to start looking for her. Lead the way." Duckie nodded and started waddling in the same direction the boys had been heading in originally, Fakir and Autor followed along. Fakir quirked an eyebrow when he noticed his cousin coming along, Autor responded by simply smirking in an amused manner.

Duckie led them right to a bush off to the side of the ballet building, a little nook hidden from view by most people. She quickly ducked under the bush and started tugging on something, Fakir kneeled down and reached under the bush to help her pull whatever it was out. "A uniform?" Autor quirked an eyebrow at the unusual find.

"It must be Duckie's," Fakir replied while tying it up in a neat little bundle and tucked it under his arm. "Alright, which way did she go?" Duckie looked around for a moment, then pointed with her wing back to the front of the building before running as quickly as she could in that direction.

Several hours of wandering over the campus later and they still had no idea who the girl was, though Fakir and Autor had a vague description thanks to a game of 20 questions with Duckie. Fakir sighed heavily, "This is starting to look hopeless."

"Hey look, it's Fakir and that guy he hangs out with, maybe they know where Duckie is!" Fakir and Autor turned when they heard someone nearly shout in a high pitched squeal, behind them Duckie's friends were fast approaching. Fakir quickly tucked Duckie inside his jacket so they wouldn't notice her. "Fakir, have you seen Duckie?"

"We were supposed to have dinner at the new restaurant but we can't find her anywhere," Pique added. Fakir shook his head and the two looked rather disappointed. "That's too bad, if you see her-"

"We do know what she's doing though." Autor cut in before the girl could finish her sentence. Fakir and Pique both shot him dark looks, though for very different reasons. "One of your classmates stole the pendant Fakir gave her and we're trying to get it back right now."

"That's just terrible! Who stole Duckie's pendant?"

"Duckie couldn't remember her name, but she's got brown hair a bit longer than her shoulders and brown eyes. Do you know her?"

Pique and Lillié looked at each other quizzically before responding. "That describes several girls in our class, is there anything else you can tell us about her?" The two boys shook their heads sadly, "Well, that's alright. I suppose we'll help you guys find the thief and get Duckie's necklace back. See you later." The two girls waved as they ran off to interrogate their classmates. Fakir sighed in relief as they watched the girls' retreating backs before glaring at Autor.

"What? We need all the help we can get and they know more about their classmates than we do." Fakir just grunted as he pulled Duckie out from his jacket and continued their search. Though as Autor will point out after everything is said and done, "We may as well have not even bothered for all the good it did us."

Fakir and Autor were sitting on the fountain near the dorms, Duckie on the ground between them leaning against the stones, all of them exhausted and ready to just go to bed but still missing the all important pendant. It was rather disheartening. "Oh, here you guys are, how lucky." Pique and Lillié had just left the girl's dorm with a smooth, red jewel hanging from a thin gold chain in hand.

"Guess what we found?" Fakir gasped and quickly snatched the gem, inspecting the broken chain it was attached to.

"Who had it?" Fakir ground out, too relieved and angry to bother with a proper thank you.

"We're not telling you, she feels pretty guilty already. She wants to apologize to Duckie later."

"It's getting pretty late, we better head in. Tell Duckie we can do dinner tomorrow night instead." The two girls waved as they headed back into the dorm, though the boys could hear Lillié excitedly talking about a duel or failing out of school for falling asleep in class or something equally ridiculous as they headed inside.

"I still don't know what you see in those two." Duckie shrugged at Fakir's comment, like she wasn't sure herself. "Either way this chain is going to take a while to fix, it'd be quicker to just replace it until then. I'm going home to see if Charon has any. Thanks for all your help today, Autor."

"Don't mention it, it's rather nice to have a little adventure once in a while that doesn't include ravens or broken hearts." Autor waved as the two headed out of the dorm gates and down the road. He could faintly hear Fakir declare he was putting the gem on a thicker chain before the pair went out of sight.

* * *

Not completely satisfied with this but I don't know what I can do to make it better. A continuation of _Beginning Again? _in case you weren't sure. I suppose the full title could be _Consequences of Pinning all Your Hopes and Dreams on a Delicate Piece of Jewelry_ or something like that but there isn't enough room for all that. And I don't think mystery classmate is as apologetic as Pique and Lillié made her out to be, perhaps the Ballerina Maffia bullied her into it?

I have a couple ideas for multi-chapter fics and want to work on finishing those. That means that these little one shots won't be getting any updates for a while. It's not like I was regular to begin with, but don't expect to see any for a long time. I do still plan on doing these, I still have a few ideas I want to explore, but I really really REALLY want to get these multi-chapter fics done too.


	13. What is Happily Ever After?

**What is Happily Ever After?**

… _and they all lived happily ever after, the end_. But what does that mean? What happens during the happily ever after for characters in a story? Rue thought she knew, they lived happily and freely, as they chose. Going into Mytho's story with him had seemed so certain to her, but now she realized what it really was. The ending of one story was just the beginning of another, but without a writer to actively make a story happen the characters were trapped forever in a state of endless potential. The characters themselves didn't seem to notice, Rue realized once the epiphany hit that that was what was going on. None of them seemed to realize that their ages, their features, their clothes, even the people and buildings around then were in a constant state of flux. It was crossing Rue's eyes and giving her a headache, but she never said anything to Mytho.

Mytho was one of the characters, Rue reminded herself, he came from the story, was meant to be here, was always a part of it. And despite how everything changed around her Rue always had a steady oasis in Mytho. Oh, his clothes and crown were wont to shift between that of a Prince and that of newly crowned King, but his eyes and face were ever constant, and they were always smiling. Rue couldn't tell Mytho how much of an outsider she felt in this magical realm because he always seemed so happy to finally be home and see his family again, no matter if the number of his siblings (when he even had any) were always changing and whether or not his parents even lived seemed up to debate. So Rue smiled, smiled because his happiness was her happiness and hid her feelings.

Another thing that never changed were the whispers she could just hear from the court ladies. Oh, their whispers were not cruel or meant to hurt, but they preyed upon Rue's growing insecurity as she failed to adjust to her new life. Often she heard the women cluck and state sadly what a trauma she must have gone through to seem always dazed and confused about her surroundings and the people around her, or what a pity it was that such a sweet Princess should have such trouble with court life. Rue gritted her teeth as she fought the urge to scream at them, to yell that she wouldn't have such trouble simply walking through hallways if they weren't always shifting, or that she would remember who was who just fine if their faces and ranks didn't change from one moment to the next, or that her court manners would be impeccable if the court could simply settle on a single era to exist in. Instead she of giving into the rise of Kraehe within her she quickened her steps and tried to ignore the whispers around her. She couldn't even bring herself to find some quiet place to cry, whatever room she tucked herself away in was bound to shift and become filled with worried onlookers, and they were bound to remember even after it shifted into something more private.

Rue was so afraid, afraid that Mytho would find out how unhappy she was becoming. She wanted to be happy, she wanted him to be happy, but if he found out… She didn't know what might happen. But she couldn't help but feel that it would not end well. Until one night as she lay in bed next to him, feeling the bedding shift and warp around them as she tried to find a comfortable spot on a pillow that couldn't decide what it was stuffed with all of Rue's fears and insecurities came crashing down on her. "I don't think I'm happy here."

Rue stiffened and looked up at her husband's face in shock, the words had not come from her mouth. She opened her mouth to speak but all she could manage was a strangled, "What?"

Mytho grimaced as he began petting Rue's hair, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by that, just forget I said it."

"No!" Both were startled by Rue's outburst. "No, if you're unhappy, you should tell me about it. Maybe just talking about it will help you feel better." Rue abandoned the pillow to rest her head on his chest and gaze up into Mytho's wonderful eyes. "Go on."

Mytho took a deep breath, "I'm not sure how to express myself, I think I miss Gold Crown Town." Rue nodded at his comment, of course she would have felt homesick even without the strange way the world shifted around her, she was born and raised in Gold Crown. "But it's more than that, I feel like I don't belong here anymore. The Story has changed while I was away, or perhaps I have changed while the Story hasn't. I no longer recognize anyone or anything." Rue nodded as she snuggled closer to Mytho in a gesture of comfort. "But that's a silly thing to feel, never mind all of that."

"I don't think I'm quite happy here either," Rue admitted quietly as Mytho tried to brush his ramblings off. It was Mytho's turn to stare at Rue as if he couldn't quite believe the words coming out of her mouth. "Everything is always shifting around, sometimes you're King and sometimes you're still just a Prince, the castle can't quite seem to figure out what it should be, and the people! Their ages and clothes and faces are always shifting from one thing to another. I can't keep up with it." Rue hid her face in Mytho's chest as she spoke, a little afraid to look into his face as she poured out her failings at his feet.

Mytho frowned at her words. "Do you truly mean what you say? The Story is shifting and changing around us?"

"Yes, a little." Rue admitted, still not looking up at Mytho. "I think it's because the Story is over, it doesn't know what to do with itself now. You didn't seem to notice and I thought you were happy, so I didn't say anything."

Mytho chuckled and hugged Rue closer. "How strong you've been for my sake when I've been quiet for your sake." Rue couldn't help smiling at that, looking up into Mytho's beautiful, amber eyes. "We should leave. We're not happy here, neither of us belong."

"But Mytho, of course you belong here!" Rue looked up at him in shock, not quite believing the words he was saying. "Besides, who will run the Kingdom?"

"I spent to long in the real world, a Story isn't enough anymore. And I have plenty of brothers and cousins, one of them would happily take over."

Rue snorted, the most inelegant sound she had ever made, "Sometimes you have brothers. Sometimes not, you'd think that would at least be constant since it's from the beginning of the story." Mytho grabbed Rue's hands and held them tight, stopping her from continuing with her little rant.

"Let's leave now, tonight. Let's throw caution to the wind and go where we can be happiest. Let's go back to Gold Crown with Fakir and Duckie."

Rue gasped at his audacious plan, "Can we even do that? I mean, the town isn't under the Story's control anymore, can we even leave it again?"

Mytho looked so excited and happy as he proclaimed in a loud whisper, fearing their being overheard, "I don't know. But we can find out."

"What if we can't? Or what if I can but you can't? What if we try to leave and something happens?"

Mytho gripped Rue's trembling hands tighter and looked deep into her eyes as he gave his response, "If we can't then we go on an adventure instead. We go out into this world and find whatever happiness we can with each other. We go search for a story where you can at least see clearly." Rue's eyes slid down and away in hesitation, unsure about leaving the safety of a finished Story for one with an unknown ending. "And Rue, what if we can go back? What if we can return to the Gold Crown Academy of Fine Arts and take ballet again?" Rue couldn't hold back the smile at the thought of seeing dear Duckie again, of dancing with her classmates again, of tormenting Fakir like she used to before remembering Kraehe and the Raven.

"Alright, let's go right now." She giggled happily, feeling light and free as they threw off sheets and ran to their wardrobes. Both eagerly threw off their night clothes and found the sturdiest and easiest to wear garments before sneaking out into the hallway. Mytho wrote a quick note and left it on the dresser, Rue understood and waited by the door excitedly as he quickly signed then joined her. Both were giggling like a pair of small children, hurriedly shushing each other as they crept through the castle and out into the courtyard. As if they were able to sense what the royal couple wanted, or perhaps merely summoned by the magic of being a Royal, Mytho's swan drawn carriage was waiting quietly for them. They quickly climbed in, and before they had fairly settled the swans pulled away. The only sound that was heard was the flapping of feathered wings and quiet giggles as the carriage flew into the night.

Xxx

So I've had this idea off and on for a while and finally sat down to get it down on paper. Those of you actually reading this can thank Elcarim-Soberian-1222, his or her (sorry, your profile is a bit Spartan) watching this collection reminded me that I have wanted to get this idea down for a while. I'm also happy that I've finally given the only truly canon pairing from the show some attention. Yes, Duck/Fakir is almost canon, but not quite.

And yes, I am still working on those multi-chapter fics I was talking about. More than one? I have lots of ideas, I'm just focusing on the one that is vying for the most attention. I was working on one, but the ideas for the one I'm actively working on would not leave me alone. I've gotten a lot of the first draft written, all that's left are a few connecting scenes and the entire ending. Not sure what to do from there, lots of rewrites and splitting it into chapters seems like the best step. Hopefully I'll get it out this year. I'm aiming for this summer.


	14. The Royal Pets

**The Royal Pets**

King Siegfried and Queen Rue ambled arm in arm through their garden as they took their customary evening stroll. It was always a short stroll, but the royal pair made sure to take one every day after dinner for a breath of fresh air before the evening merriment began. The royal pair strolled in the direction of a copse of trees, hidden within was a sparkling pond screened from prying eyes within the palace by the trees. Siegfried and Rue came up to the very edge of the little pond, the Rue's skirts flirting dangerously with the water gently lapping at the shore, as she lowered herself to an elegant crouch she pulled a pure white handkerchief from a pocket hidden in the folds of her matching pure white dress and unfolded it to reveal a small hunk of bread. The nearby swans all swam eagerly forward but the Siegfried and Rue ignored them, waiting for a pair of very ordinary ducks, one yellow as sunshine and the other dark as an evergreen forest, swam cheerfully up to the royal pair. The yellow duck waggled its tail happily, Rue giggled in response as she tore the bread to pieces and spread the resulting crumbs on the pond for the ducks to greedily gobble up.

"I expected you to be greedy, Duckie, but not Fakir," Rue giggled again, reaching out to pet Duckie's head affectionately.

Siegfried smiled gently as he leaned over and pet Fakir just as affectionately, "You never saw him as a child when Charon made his favorite meal." Fakir spared an aggravated glare at Siegfried, but softened as he continued to stroke the duck's head. The group stayed that way for a while, the ducks had finished their crumbs and simply floated within reach of the royal pair while being showered with affection and occasionally quacking in contentment, Siegfried and Rue chatting amiably to each other about their day and reminiscing of days gone by that felt a life time ago. The servants often teased that if they didn't know better they'd think their rulers were talking to their pets rather than each other, but they all knew that if their noble swans couldn't understand more than basic commands then certainly no mere ducks could.

All too soon the light shifted and the royal pair realized the sun was about to set. With one last pet Siegfried and Rue bid the ducks goodnight and strolled back towards the palace. Once out of sight of the pond Rue buried her face in Siegfried's shoulder, "Oh, I wish we could break the spell on them. It doesn't seem fair after all they've done for us, sacrificing so much to give us our happy ending…" A sob prevented her from saying more, Siegfried gently pulled her closer as he fought to keep a straight face.

"I know, Rue, but we both know that Duckie's not under a spell at all. And Fakir chose this to be closer to her, to break his spell would be cruel to them both. If they are happy like this, we should be happy for them."

"Yes, I remember. Sometimes I just need to be reminded, thank you Mytho." Rue gave a watery smile as she looked back to her husband. He gently dried her tears, smiling just as uncertainly as they composed themselves to face their court again. No one in the castle suspected who the ducks really were and the royal pair were determined to let their old friends lead happy, peaceful lives.

* * *

A scant two hours later, well after the last echoes of sunlight had faded from even the highest spire of the castle though the windows blazed within, something strange and wholly unexpected happened. Fakir and Duckie had left their warm nest to glide across the still pond, the swans also cautiously floated onto the pond's surface though they wisely kept to the edges. Shortly after the ducks floated into the center of the pond the moon rose, its silver light washing over the whole garden. The crickets ceased their chirping, the whole garden stilled as the air became heavy with the scent of magic. Where the ducks had once floated now stood a young man and woman, the water beneath them firm as the ground though the swans still swam as if it were water.

The man, dark as the forest and dressed in dark greens and blacks, held out his hand to the woman, wearing a frothy yellow and orange tutu. Without a word she took his hand and they began to dance, their footsteps causing gentle ripples across the pond as they stepped in time with the music gently floating from within the palace. They both smiled gently as they continued their pas de deux, the swans gliding about them to act as their corps de ballet. As they danced the woman smiled happily, radiant as sunshine as the man's arms held her gently yet firmly; he in kind smiled more quietly, his happiness shining from his forest eyes. Long ago, when they first danced upon their little pond words were exchanged, she asking if he were truly happy and he repeating that he can't be happy without her, his despair at not being to do more for her and her delight at being able to dance again, reminiscing together of the past and talking of their peaceful future, sometimes toying with the idea of joining Mytho and Rue at the ball they held that night or perhaps the next one though neither truly wanted to tell their friends about this spell… not just yet.

Their pas de deux continued through the rest of night, long after the final dance ended within the palace. They continued until the first rays of the sun crept over the distant mountains, the spell that hung thick over the royal garden broke and faded away as the rays pieced the fog hanging over the pond. The swans and two little ducks blinked sleepily then glided not quite so gracefully as the night before back to the shore where they could tuck weary heads under feathered wings and sleep until the sun was high in the sky. After all, tonight was another night and another dance.

* * *

A.N.: I don't know where this idea came from, it just hit me and I decided to write. Perhaps this is connected to _Sacrifice_ or perhaps not, that is up for you to decide. I don't think Fakir planned this though, I think that after he turned himself into a duck they maybe went into the story on a whim (and a place much safer to live than out in the wild) and found out they were both human by night purely by accident. Or perhaps he had planned it all along, Fakir's sneaky like that. Maybe after I finally get to some of my older ideas I'll come back to this and have Fakir and Duckie join Mytho and Rue for a dance, wouldn't that be a splendid surprise for them? I dunno, we'll see.

And good news to anyone that cares, I finally got the rough draft to that multi-chapter fic finished. Yes, the rough draft for the whole fic, I was afraid what would happen if I didn't write it all at once so I decided that I had to get the whole thing done as a rough draft, that's why it was taking so long. It currently sits at 35 pages of 10 point Book Antiqua text, the next step is to do my usual in draft edits I do for these and then to re-type it one chapter at a time. So that means I can get the first chapter posted before I finish editing the rest of the chapters or I can wait until it's all done to ensure there are no long waits in between chapters, we shall see.

As a fun aside: this story with all the imagery I had of Fakir as an evergreen forest inspired an Alphonse Mucha style image in my head that I want to draw once my fever goes down a little. Yay for fever ideas! :D


	15. Letting Go

**Letting Go**

Sometimes in order to have your Happy Ending you have to let go of what you want, to convince yourself it's only what you thought you wanted and that things are better the way they are. Fakir truly believes this and lives by it every day. He sits by the pond, out near the edge of the old dock, quill and paper in hand as he writes and writes and writes. He writes little nothings, observations of what has happened, what is happening right now, but never what could be. He doesn't trust himself not to fall into the corruption that his ancestor had, never straying a letter away from non-fiction for fear of what could be if he did.

Little Duckie floats serenely near him on the water's surface. She's older now, her golden juvenile feathers faded to a mature ivory. She doesn't dance anymore, or nod her head, sometimes she doesn't even look at Fakir when he talks to her, there is no understanding in her eyes though she does recognize him. Fakir remembers watching it happen, with every little hold Drosselmeyer's story had on their lives snipped a little more of the spark left her eyes until there was none left at all. What else could he do? They had agreed that it was better to be themselves and to let people live the lives they chose and not to let any Stories run rampant… especially His. Through it all Fakir has kept his promise, though she's little more than his pet now. He stays by her side and she stays by his, following him home from the pond, never flying south for the winter, eating what he feeds her as greedily as any animal.

Fakir idles in his chair, the quill gone slack in his hand as he stares up into the trees surrounding Duckie's pond and absorbs the warm sunshine. He can hear the little duck nearby as she paddles about in the water, dipping her head or fluttering her wings. He feels… content. Content is good, he'll never admit that he can't claim happiness. It's too late to worry about that, he can't do anything. After all, Duckie is what is most important to him, and he has her. Doesn't he?

* * *

This is for the July contest at Club-Tutu on DA, the prompt was the last speech Neko-sensei gave in the series. Well, uh... this came out rather depressing. I actually edited it before posting here to add a little more depression to it, I just felt it wasn't a sad enough ending without making it clear that Fakir realizes he's the reason Duck can't remember him anymore. I was watching a Let's Play of The Path when I felt the urge to write this so you might realize why it's so depressing. Sadly, I think this is the most realistic ending there could be for this pairing. Fortunately fairy tales don't need to be realistic! Hopefully something much happier will be coming soon.


End file.
